Journals Through the Ages
by 20Iolaire02
Summary: History is written by the victors, but even victors lie. The story of House Potter over the centuries.
1. Page Five Hundred Sixty-Two

A/N: The old formatting for this story was bothering me, so I've gone and changed it so that there're chapters because this is a chaptered fic. I apologise to those of you who are following this story and have received a bunch of notifications because I can't leave well enough alone; there have been no changes beyond formatting, though if you see any inconsistencies or spelling/grammar errors, feel free to inform me.

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Hogwarts: a History

For over four centuries, the Pendragon family ruled the Magical World of Britain, bringing balance to the same beings they protected. The Pendragons ruled over wizards and creatures alike, they were fair and kind rulers, and protected the Wizarding World from the wrath of the Mundanes as their fear of Magic turned to hatred.

The last Pendragon died late in life, having fulfilled all duties to Magical Britain but one. An heir was not produced, and so there was no one to take up the crown. There was no one to rule over the Magical World, no one to keep the balance.

Magical Britain began to collapse. The Founders of Hogwarts banded together and sought out a solution to halt the collapse of the Magical World. They first attempted creating a school for youngsters, in the hopes that controlling magic at a younger age, teaching children from Mundane families, would help keep they balance. When this solution failed, the Founders approached the Royal Family. With Salazar Slytherin's cunning and Godric Gryffindor's courage, the Founders negotiated with the King.

The Magical World would remain in the shadows, and would inform the monarch of all the goings on of their world. They would form a government to help regulate their citizens, would base any laws formed on Britain's own, would be citizens of current and future British monarchs, would have an education system to teach magic and control, and they would teach all Mundane born children with magic how to use it - if their parents agreed, and they already had some education from the Mundane World. In return, the Royal Family of Britain would act as the Pendragons had, and would bring balance to the Magical World of Britain in whatever capacity they were capable.

And so, Magical Britain regained a semblance of balance, and followed the King's stipulations. So, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry taught children from September to June every year, beginning at age eleven.


	2. Atlas Pendragon

**_August 13, 785 AD_**

_Father informed me this day that I would be an inefficient ruler of Magical Britain. I am unsure as to his reasons, as he gave none, but I believe that Mother has something to do with this newfound opinion. He has trained me to be the next King all my life, but Mother has always favored Caelum over myself. _

_No doubt, she has spun for my Father an unsavory story about me. Nevertheless, whatever has caused my Father to inform me of his change in opinion has also caused him to request that I make myself scarce. _

_I know that this is his way of requesting that I disappear, so that Caelum has no competition for the throne. Though he is my Father, he is my King as well - this request is an order framed as the former solely because I am his son. _

_I love my Father enough, respect my King enough, that I will disappear for enough time that the country forgets I existed at all, or comes to the conclusion that I have died. _

_Despite the fact that I would not have been an ineffective ruler, I concede that Caelum will be better than I ever could have been - he is more passionate about the good of our world, of our people, than I could ever be. I believe I am leaving this world in good hands, and so I will do this for my Father and brother and country. _

**_August 15, 785 AD_**

_I believe this to be the last time I use this book of parchment to write my thoughts in. It contains too much of my past in it to risk being found, for if it is discovered, my plan is in jeopardy. _

_I shall write a missive to my brother informing him that, as my coronation approached, I found I could not bare the thought of ruling a country, of keeping the balance. He will be convinced for I have spoken once or twice before of having the weight of the world on my shoulders. From this missive, my dear brother will conclude that I have run away from my duty, from my people. _

_This is only true because of what my Father has requested. I hope he is informed of all the nuances behind this change at some point. I accept that this will likely not be the case. _

_In any event, I have chosen to bring my most valued belongings, some food, and some money. This will make it appear as though I have run away. _

_It worries me that running away is exactly what I have chosen to do, though I know not from what. Am I running from change in my life? _

_It matters not. I will be gone from my home before the sun paints the sky in the east. I will erase myself from history; I know that the world will eventually forget about my deeds. I know that it will forget my name. _

_I am Atlas Rowan Pendragon, the runaway. _

**_August 20, 785 AD_**

_I have made my escape with great success. No doubt I will be declared dead by the next phase of the moon. I have chosen for myself a new name. _

_In keeping with my family's tradition, I will retain my first name, as it was given me by my Father and Mother. I admit I feel as though I am the Titan whose name I share, balancing the sky on my shoulders atop a mountain. I believe my first name to be fitting, and will take my brother's name as my second. This will remind me of what I have given up, of the family I left behind. _

_My third name shall, from this point on, be Peverell. It is similar enough, and different enough from my family's name that no one will make the connection. But I will be reminded of what my family's duty to this world is. _

_I am Atlas Caelum Peverell, the balance between family and duty. _

**_September 1, 785 AD_**

_It has occurred to me that I must leave the country to maintain my cover. It need not be an extended absence, but it must be for a minimum of three moons. Whilst I am gone, I must find a way to change my appearance enough that I am not immediately connected to the Royal Family. That would defeat the point of this ploy. _

_The Pendragon Family has rather distinctive features which tend to carry through the generations. They are the same as Arthur Pendragon carried during his rule. Wild black hair, luminescent gold eyes, high cheekbones, straight noses, bowed mouths. Each Pendragon born into the family has carried these traits. I am rather attached to my features - they are what I have known my whole life, but I must alter them enough that I am not connected with the Pendragons. _

_After I have altered my appearance, I plan to set aside a portion of the money I brought with my. My family has an account with the goblins of Gringotts. They are vicious and perceptive, protective of gold, of their people. They demand respect, and are likely my best option. I will start an account with them, showing goodwill, and also making Atlas Peverell an official part of society. _

_I am beginning my own family line. I must think of my future, and the future of my descendants. I must contemplate what I want to be known for. _

_I head to Scandinavia at twilight. When I arrive I will begin to think upon the future of the Peverell family, as well as changing my features. _

**_September 2, 785 AD_**

_I arrived in Scandinavia early this morning. It seems to be very open. There are not many people where I have currently set up camp. The few I have conversed with are compliant enough, and provide detailed information when asked equally detailed questions. _

_The land is very beautiful - open and flat in some areas. I have yet to experience more mountainous terrain, but am sure it will be equally intriguing. This is the first I have been outside Britain, to my knowledge. I believe I would like to visit Gaul next, and perhaps travel further East. _

_The people here, beyond nomads, seem to be warriors and traders. They are Nordic, and others call them Vikings. They seem to be quite effective in fighting enemies, and have their own fascinating religion. _

_I wonder what happens when we die? _

**_September 3, 785 AD_**

_Scandinavia is a beautiful country, but rather lacking in people. I am unsure as to the Magical population - other countries were of little concern to Magical Britain, beyond vague alliances. _

_I will have to form allies for my family. The Vikings who trade here may be an interesting option. But I will worry about that once I am better settled. _

_I have attempted to alter my appearance. Though I am accomplished in transfiguration above all Magicks, I struggled with this task. _

_My hair was a simple alteration - I cannot bear to part with the black color, but I have managed to force the stubborn strands into tame curls, rather than the untamable locks the Pendragons are known for. I did alter the color a bit; it is now darker than before, and looks faintly blue in some lights. It is, I believe, different enough. _

_I thankfully didn't have to alter my bone structure, as there are many families in Britain with similar bones. _

_The eyes were perhaps more trouble than they were worth, but I find I am unwilling to give up now that I have begun. I have discovered that eye color is a representation of our Magic. I assume this means that Pendragons have gold Magic and always have. This would explain why the color carried through dozens of generations. _

_I assume it is also the reason Magicals have more interesting eyes colors than Mundanes do. _

_Changing my eye color took a great deal of effort, likely because in the process I had to change the physical representation of my Magic. I found that I could not deviate much from the original color, and so I have settled for a shade of amber that will not incriminate me. _

_I looked into a glass shard and could recognize myself only because I knew what to expect. I find it fascinating that such minor changes cause such a difference. _

**_September 17, 785 AD_**

_I have spent a fortnight mulling over the idea of creating a new family. _

_I already have a name. Peverell. _

_Seeing it on parchment seems oddly final. There is no going back from here. _

_I must decide what I want my family to be known for. I must decide in a profession so that I may begin to amass a fortune. I must set goals and rules and regulations. _

_I must write a motto. I must create a symbol. _

_I must begin a grimoire, and an account with the goblins. I must find an estate for the family, and start a library. _

_There is much to do for my future family. I must start a family and put protections in place. _

_I don't know where to start, but I know what to do. I was meant to rule an entire country, I can create a new family. I can make a powerful House. _

_I cannot return to Britain for three fortnights. I do not wish to have the main family Manor in Scandinavia. I will procure a piece of land here so that we may have safe houses in dangerous times, or a place for extended family, or simply to sell in the future for a greater sum of money. _

_In the meantime, I will think of a symbol for the Peverell family, as well as family words. I will begin the Grimoire, and procure tomes from other countries, and consider professions to increase the sum of money the goblins watch over. _

**_September 18, 785 AD_**

_Balance Family and Duty. Statera Familia et Officium. _

**_September 18, 785 AD_**

_Vitae Corporis - for flight _

_Flatu Aquam - to breathe underwater _

_Alimenta Vocent - to summon food _

_Ut Evanescent - to vanish something _

_Quibus Calefiant - to heat _

_Et Frigus - to cool _

**_September 20, 785 AD_**

_A triangle with equal sides to represent balance. It encompasses a circle and a straight line to show that balance is important, that one thing can not be more important than another. _

_The circle represents family. We are brought together by blood or by choice. We may bend to our family, to the wills of those who share our blood, those who we have chosen. _

_The straight line represents duty. I hope my family will follow a straight path, will follow its duty. And I hope that they will remember that family and duty are both important, that both must be balanced. _

**_September 30, 785 AD_**

_I have spent the past ten days traveling in the hopes of finding tomes that I may use to build a library. I have found maybe two dozen in good condition with vast quantities of information on various topics of Magic. I hope to travel further East in my search. I believe I will find a greater quantity as I return to Britain, but I may postpone my trip home as I search for valuable additions to the library. _

**_October 2, 785 AD_**

_I arrived in Gaul yesterday morning, and found several more tomes for the library. I also found a piece of unoccupied land that I have invested in for the same reasons as in Scandinavia. Gaul is quite beautiful, the stars here are quite luminescent, and the girls are quite comely. There seems to be a high population of Veela here, as well. _

_Whilst I was preparing to leave Scandinavia, I approached one of the Norsemen, and we formed a tentative alliance after I showed him some of my abilities. I hope to secure another alliance with the Veela here, they are formidable in battle, and though I am unsure what I can offer in return, I am sure I will be able to negotiate something. _

_I have always had a quick tongue. _

_On another note, I have decided that rather than having only one profession, my family shall simply play to their strengths. I am a talented craftsman, and enjoy threading my work with magical properties. My Father insisted my brother and I learn something that the common folk did so that we could understand some of their struggles. _

_Draughts are also an area in which I have talent, as is Transfiguration. Charming objects is more my brother's talent, but I am good with Runes. _

_I will create a gift for the Veela, as a show of good will. _

_Perhaps they would appreciate something practical but beautiful - stained pottery, perhaps. A jug that keeps the contents cold, as well as continuously filled, perhaps. And I think I shall stain it with the colors and flames of fire, with the Runes inside the jug. _

_Potions. Pottery. _

_Transfiguration? _

**_October 15, 785 AD_**

_I met with the Veela yesterday when the sun was highest in the sky. Their leader appreciated my gift, and was impressed with my initiative. She requested several more pieces of pottery, and asked if I would teach her youngest son Potions and Transfiguration, and anything else I know. _

_I agreed, of course, and we discussed an alliance. _

_She was wary at first, and tested me - or claimed she did. She was unbearably beautiful for a brief moment, and I was struck with a sudden desire to do anything to impress her, but it passed quickly. She agreed to an alliance with me, with conditions. _

_To ensure that neither I nor her people disregard the alliance, I am to marry one of her daughters. _

_I feel as though I am getting more out of this alliance than they are, but they seem quite pleased with the arrangement. _

_I will have a wife by the end of the week, and Veela are supposed to be quite fertile. This means that I will soon have a family to love and protect. _

**_October 21, 785 AD_**

_Her name is Phoenix Reyna D' La Cour. We are meant to be married tomorrow and have been spending quite a bit of time together these past few days so that we may see if we are compatible. _

_I never wished to marry for an arrangement such as this, but it was something I accepted was a likely case. I believe that I could love Phoenix, given time. And though I do not love her, yet, she is wonderful company. _

_She is intelligent and quick witted and humorous, and kind. She is also very beautiful, but not in the way most Veela are - she has hair the color of onyx with a hint of rubies, rather than platinum. She has silver eyes. Phoenix is not the most beautiful of her sisters, but she is certainly stunning. She is nearly my height, and I am not a short man, she also has a wonderful body, and is talented in Charms and Arithmancy and Astronomy, as well as Runes. _

_I find myself enamored with her, and believe the feeling is mutual. _

_I have high hopes for this marriage, and this alliance. _

_Phoenix's Mother - Lyra - has asked me about my past, as well as my plans for the future. I told her the truth of it, and she seemed quite pleased, even agreeing that I may bring Phoenix with me when I return to Britain. _

_She seems excited about the prospect. _

**_October 22, 785 AD_**

_Phoenix and I were married today, and my magic feels settled like it hasn't since I gave up the throne. I can't imagine continuing through life without Phoenix by my side, and am excited to see what we can do together. _

_Phoenix has offered to travel to Britain briefly in order to set up an account with the Goblins. I have agreed. I had only a moon to go on my timeline, and do not feel as though returning early will change anything drastically. We can buy land for a Manor, or whatever Phoenix would prefer to live in, and then we can travel the world before starting a family. _

**_December 6, 785 AD_**

_The Manor is made of stone and wood, and has been Enchanted so that it will not be destroyed. These enchantments will have to be renewed every so often, as will any wards placed onto it. With this in mind, Phoenix and I have placed a Ward Stone in the room we have decided the library will be in. _

_The Manor is in the form of our family's symbol, and is split down the center by a courtyard that acts as the straight line bisecting the triangle and circle. _

_Half of the circle is the library, and the other half is living space. The rest of the Manor is currently made up of empty rooms that we hope will one day be filled with our family. _

_The Manor rests on one thousand three hundred acres of land, and I have planted elder trees all along the border of our property. Near one end of it, there is a lake bordered by trees that will be perfect for swimming in. The Manor is at the opposite end. _

_I am uncertain what I will do with the rest of the land, but I am not worried right now. I have plenty of time to figure it out. _

**_January 1, 786 AD_**

_Phoenix is with child. We have decided to return to Britain, stopping to visit her Mother on the way. The Manor has been furnished. _

**_March 24, 786 AD_**

_We estimate that the baby will be born sometime in late July. Phoenix's pregnancy has brought us closer together, and I can now say that my prediction was correct: I have fallen in love with my wife, and she with me. _

_The Manor is quite beautiful, and more homely than the castle ever was. _

_I miss my Father and brother at times, but I wouldn't change what I have created for myself for anything. _

_Phoenix and I live in pleasant solitude, unbothered by other Magicals or Mundanes. We only interact with them when she tutors children of those who can afford lessons, or when I am working in the shop, selling our pottery or potions. _

_The shop is called Peverell's Pottery, though we do more than pottery. _

_It has been less than a year, and already we have made a tidy sum. The goblins appreciate our patronage, and I have grown used to their surly demeanors. I have grown especially fond of our account manager, Ragnok, who tells me that goblins live for centuries, sometimes even millennia. _

_I hope that I will be a man my descendants are proud to learn about from a goblin. _

**_July 30, 786 AD_**

_Phoenix gave birth yesterday to twins. Athena Nova has my blue-black curls and Phoenix's silver eyes. Polaris Nix has Phoenix's ruby-black hair and my amber eyes. They are both beautiful. _

_I have set aside a small portion of money for each of them in separate accounts. They are the trust accounts because they are available to our children before the main account will be, but I am trusting that my children will not need the accounts. _

_Nonetheless, I will continue to add money to each account every year. _

_In the event that Phee and I die, money from the main account will be added to the trust accounts each year, so our children have enough to live off of. _

_Statera Familia et Officium. _

**_February 14, 788 AD_**

_Phee was pregnant again. The baby didn't make it. We named the child Nebula, and buried her beneath one of the elder trees. Her grave is marked with the symbol of our family. _

_Athena and Polaris don't even know why they're sad. _

**_December 31, 788 AD_**

_Christopher Altair was born before dawn this morning. He has - astonishingly - the platinum hair of a Veela with my curls, as well as my eyes. I have set aside a trust account for him as well. The twins are glad to have a younger sibling. Phee and I are pleased to have another child. _

**_April 1, 790 AD_**

_We had a second pair of twins born at midnight this morning. They are both girls, and look almost exactly the same. They have Phee's straight ruby-black hair. They have the eyes of a Pendragon, but hopefully no one will make the connection. If they do, there may be consequences. _

_To tell them apart, I crafted fine silver bracelets with their names. Phee enchanted them, and wouldn't tell me with what. _

_Phee and I named the girls Avalon Carina and Andromeda Rae. _

_Like the children before them, Ava and Andy have trust accounts set aside for them. _

**_October 31, 791 AD_**

_Roman Alexander was born today. He has all the features of a Veela - the hair and the eyes. I wonder if he will inherit any of the abilities of a Veela. Male Veela are astonishingly rare - the trait is generally found in the females. _

_He also has a trust account. _

_I cannot bear the idea of my children struggling. _

**_August 15, 792 AD_**

_I am twenty-four today. Phee and I have begun tutoring Athena and Polaris in basic math and languages. We will begin potions and spells when they turn eight. _

_The shop is doing well; Phee and I have begun considering the benefits of hiring someone to help us run it. Perhaps any expertise they have can be used to expand. _

**_September 15, 792 AD_**

_Queen Lisanor Pendragon died giving birth to a daughter. The child did not survive. The country is in mourning, and I cannot decide what I feel. _

_My Mother is dead, as is the baby sister I didn't know I could have had. _

_I haven't thought much on my mother, we never had a close relationship - she preferred Caelum over me, and I loved Father more than I ever loved her. _

_I suppose I feel sad that she is gone. More, I feel sad for my brother and Father. I hope they will be able to get past Mother's death. _

**_February 29, 794 AD_**

_Ava and Andy are absolute menaces. They are always underfoot, bothering someone, if they aren't pulling each other's hair. _

_How can three year olds be this insane? _

**_August 1, 796 AD_**

_Athena and Polaris decided that they were grown ups and wanted to work in the shop with Mumma and Dadda. They were quite adorable, and our customers loved them. _

_I am considering having all of my children work in the shop once they reach ten years. It will be a valuable life skill, even if they decide to do something else with their lives. _

**_October 2, 800 AD_**

_Roman will be nine at the end of the month. _

_I have trouble thinking about how my youngest child will be working in the shop with the rest of us in a year. _

**_November 27, 802 AD_**

_Phee and I are pregnant again. The children are all ecstatic about having another sibling. _

_I am unsure, only because Phee and I hadn't planned for a seventh child. Even with six, our family is an oddity - most families can not afford as many children as we have, and those who can often struggle to get pregnant after more than one or two children. _

**_August 15, 803 AD_**

_Our newest child was born today. I am now thirty six. Phee is thirty four as of March, and after Freyja Rue, with her ruby-black curls and amber eyes, another child seems greedy. Seven is a powerful number, another child would be unnecessary. _

_Phee and I are attempting to create a potion that will prevent conception. If we are successful, we will try to create one to induce conception. _

**_November 13, 803 AD_**

_Athena married Corvus O'livandr a few years ago, and they started making wands for the general public. They have spent years trying to find the best materials for wand wood and cores, and have discovered that any wood will do, though cores should come from parts of magical creatures. _

_Polaris married Isla Blæc, and together they opened an apothecary near Gringotts. _

_Topher opened a bookshop with his lover, Hector ven Clau. _

_Ava and Andy have stayed to work with me in the shop, and Roman opened a bar called the Leaky Cauldron with his wife Delphine Desos. _

**_January 1, 804 AD_**

_Phee has taken ill. Lyra has been at the Manor the past few weeks, and has told me that Phee has Dragon Pox. _

_Dragon Pox has no cure. _

_Phee will die, and I will have seven children without a mother. _

_I won't have a wife, anymore. _

**_February 1, 804 AD_**

_Phee died last night. I have buried her next to Nebula, under the elder trees. _

_The children and I marked her grave with our symbol, and heartfelt words. _

_I wonder where we go when we die. _

_I wonder if Phee is watching over us. _

**_September 1, 804 AD_**

_Athena gave birth to triplets. She named them Isobel Lux, Virgo Alina, and Phoenix Vera. I am glad she has chosen to honor her Mother; this child will have great expectations on her shoulders, though I have no doubt that she will grow far beyond what is expected. _

**_June 13, 805 AD_**

_Polaris' wife had a son. They named him Turais Luka. _

**_July 2, 805 AD_**

_Topher adopted a daughter named Rowena Rae. He married Hector, who adopted the babe, as well. Their situation has inspired me to create a potion that will allow the two of them to become Rowena's blood parents. Perhaps it will be used in the future to prevent orphans from growing up without family. _

**_August 15, 813 AD_**

_Freyja is ten today. I am forty six and feel far closer to a century and a half. _

_My youngest will begin working in the shop with those of her siblings who have not started their own businesses. _

_Our family has opened a great deal of shops centered around Gringotts. The goblins are pleased with business. _

_I miss Phee a great deal. _

_Sometimes I have to remind myself to balance family and duty. _

_I wonder if this motto will be a great burden for my descendants. It seemed to be a gift, strong advice, when I first chose it. _

_It feels like a curse, now. _

_Is it wrong of me that I have never told my children the truth of my past? Maybe, though I like to think I am protecting them. The Pendragons are an old family and they have interwoven themselves into our history. They also have many enemies. Only one person alive knows my truth, and they are as invested in keeping it secret as I am. _

_I believe my children will be safer not knowing, at the time of my passing, though any future descendants who deign to read my journals will certainly find out with ease. _

_I hope it never comes to this - a descendant so without family that they must turn to journals to learn of their history. _

**_October 31, 813 AD_**

_I have made the decision to inform Ragnok of my past, and I have plans to return to Gringotts some time before my death to place my journals into our family's vault. I hope that, at some point, Ragnok will inform my children and their descendants of this choice. I pray that they will follow in my footsteps and place their own journals into the vault. This way, our family's history will be protected, and it will be available if something ever happens to us. _

**_December 31, 813 AD_**

_My much beloved Father passed today. I will mourn him in silence, for I cannot bury his body under the elder trees of my family home. _

_All hail King Caelum Pendragon, ruler of Magical Britain, balancer of wizards and creatures alike. Long may he reign. _

_I think he will be a good King for this country. Time will tell. _

**_January 1, 814 AD_**

_With the passing of my father I have decided to detail my past and current family, beginning with the generation before me. _

**_July 13, 823 AD_**

_I have not written for many years - I find that as I grow older, I wish to spend the majority of my free time with my children and grandchildren. _

_I have begun a tradition in my family: as each child is born, a trust account is created, and a small portion of money is added each year. These accounts will eventually become each child's main accounts when they come of age. They will add their own money into the account, and spend it as they see fit. _

_The main Peverell account will contain the greatest part of the family fortune, as well as a great many tomes, and chests of jewels and gold and artifacts from foreign lands. _

_My journals will be stored in this vault at my death, as will my wand. I hope that my children and grandchildren will continue the practice of accounting their lives on to parchment. _

_The wands are merely there to keep a part of all of us for future generations. They will be kept in a box made of the same wood as the wand contained within, and with the name of the wand's companion inscribed by that person's own hand. _

_My wand - elder wood and a hair from my wife's head - is merely a formality. Most Magicals do not rely on a wand, but they are useful for control. I feel as though our people will become more reliant on the devices in the future. _

_I plan to put the beginnings of our family tree in the vault. I will enchant it so that it grows and changes as our family does. I hope that very few will have need to look past my name, though I do not doubt that one day this very thing will come to pass. _

_I pray that it not be for many generations. _

_When I die, the gold and artifacts in my personal vault will be shifted into the main family vault, as per Ragnok's suggestion. I find myself grateful for my friendships with the magical creatures of this world. _

_I pray that someday, the Mundanes will become more open minded. I forsee a time where we will need their assistance. They are human, just as we are, and therefore selfish. I pray that when the need for their help comes, this family, at least, has an alliance with them. _

_My family will need to look to the future to make the best choices in the present. I pray that they understand the need to ask for help; just because we have magic does not mean we are invincible. No doubt, this will be proven in time. _

**_May 7, 850 AD_**

_I have recently begun to approach my eighty second year. Even for those with magic, this is an impressive feat, for illness is vicious. Most Mundanes do not survive past their fortieth year, and I am more than double that. _

_I find myself pleased with this family I have created. We are wealthy and respected and greater than half a century old. I wish I could have the privilege of witnessing the future of my family. _

_Alas, it is not to be - I have taken deathly ill, and will likely not survive till the new moon in six days. _

_My children and grandchildren hover at my bedside, and weep bitterly when they think I cannot see nor hear their tears. I will be sad to leave them, but I have made my legacy, and it is their turn, now. _

**_May 8, 850 AD_**

_I find myself in a worse state than even yesterday, and regret the quickly approaching footsteps of death. _

_I believe I am ready to see my Phee, again, after so many years apart. _

_I pray that my descendants continue our family legacy, that they continue to balance family and duty. _

_I pray they never need know from whence they came. _

_It is a new fashion to divide one's estate amongst one's children - I find myself unable to play favorites. Instead I bid them find their own way, and their own truth, and return home to remember what we stand for. _

_Balance Family with Duty. _

**_May 9, 850 AD_**

_My body is wracked by violent shudders this day. I fear it will be my last. I beg my family to remember our purpose. It will bring us far in our endeavors, and I wish only the best for the future. _

_I pray we remember our legacy, our past, when we are needed most. Our family has a duty to the world. We must balance the two again — _


	3. Rowena Ravenclaw

**_September 1, 850 AD_**

_Today, I, Rowena, have five and forty years. Some days, I feel as though I am far older. _

_Much has happened since Grandfather Atlas departed from this world just four moons past. The king - Caelum Pendragon - was taken by dragon pox, just as many of our kind have been. They say that the Pendragons have always brought balance to the Magical World, though I doubt very much that any of us ever believed it. _

_It was always just an idea, but here we are, and the Magical World is already beginning to crumble. _

_Caelum was truly the last Pendragon, and while he fulfilled nearly all of his duties to our world, he failed to produce an heir. Without Pendragon blood on the throne, we will be forced to turn to other methods to keep the balance of this world. _

_I have spent the past few months travelling with only my husband - who, as the second born son of his family, has taken on the ven Clau name - and daughter for company, trying to find a solution to this problem of ours. While I was making my way through Cambria, I met a lovely woman named Helga who was travelling with a man who introduced himself as Godric Gryff'n'dr. _

_Helga was meant to marry Godric's younger brother, who they tell me was a very cruel man, years ago. So Godric helped Helga escape, and they have been travelling together ever since. Godric is married to a lovely woman who introduced herself as Adelia, and Helga to a man named Silas. They invited us on their travels and we spoke at length about the crumbling of Magical Britannia. _

_We have begun making plans. Godric and Helga believe that we will be able to restore a semblance of balance to our world. _

_I pray that they are right._

**_September 30, 850 AD_**

_Godric, Helga and I have made our way to Ecosse during our travels. We were required to purchase horses from the Mundanes in Cambria, so that our travels would not be entirely on foot. _

_We have been discussing ideas that may help the Magical World retain balance. Helga was the one to suggest that we have some sort of system to take in young Magical children so that they may be taught to handle their magic. She was especially adamant that the Mundane-born magicals be given this opportunity. _

_Our community is already smaller than that of the Mundanes - they grow faster than we do, despite their propensity for disease and war. We need all the Magicals we can find, so that we do not shrink beneath the power of our non-magical counterparts. _

_Godric suggested that we turn to the Mundane monarch for assistance, and I believe that with time, this idea may be what saves us. _

_I refuse to watch this world crumble without trying to do something about it._

**_January 3, 851 AD_**

_On our travels, we have run across a fourth companion. He introduced himself as Sal'zar Slyth'ryn. He harkens from Arabia. He is the same age as myself, Helga and Godric, though we all look far younger, given our magical prowess. _

_To be fair, most Magicals look far younger than they are because the comparison is the Mundanes. But we four are perhaps more powerful than most, not looking much older than two decades, despite being nearly double that in reality. _

_Sal has joined us on our adventures, and - as a noble himself - has offered more advice about our plans than we originally had. We have plans to speak to the Mundane monarch in a fortnight, to ask him for assistance. We also have plans to put Helga's plan into action, and have agreed upon a school of sorts, so that we may educate any children who need or desire it. _

_I pray that the gods bless our endeavors._

**_January 18, 851 AD_**

_Yesterday, we visited King Aethelwulf to discuss our plight. He seems to be a just king. At least, he heard us out, and offered his assistance. _

_We need him to act as monarch over the Magical world, and he agreed, with conditions. _

_His stipulations were that we form a government of our own that answers to one of his men. Essentially, he will be a distant king, and will be the last in the line of communications. It is evident that he wants little to do with our world, but he has agreed to act as the balance we so desperately need. _

_From this day forth, Magical Britannia answers to the King of Wessex, in whatever form the current King stipulates. And it is our duty to inform each successor of our needs and desires. _

_Sal says that this agreement is as good as it will get. He says that we are lucky to have gotten this much; the Mundanes fear us, but they are civilized enough that they did not attack us unprovoked, thank the gods. _

_We are now responsible for pulling together a government and a school for our world. We are now responsible for bringing order and balance to a world that has lost its monarch. _

_I pray that the gods will lead our footsteps. _

**_June 7, 851 AD_**

_Sal and I are the more influential members of our group, so we have taken the lead on our projects. Sal has decided that Godric will be the most help for the political side of things; though Godric is not a noble, he is from an old family, and knows the way our world works. Helga and I focus on the formation of the school, though our separation in these projects will not mean that we have nothing to do with them. Helga and I still offer suggestions to help the men along, just as they do for us. _

_Helga and I have decided to locate our school in Ecosse. We have found a place that will be easily hidden from the Mundanes. There is a forest that is home to many magical creatures on one end of the land. At the other is a large lake. It is smooth, and black in color, and in it reside merfolk and a giant squid and grindylows, among other things. The entire piece of land is perhaps five times the size of my family's Manor, and it is bordered by mountains on all sides. _

_When Helga and I came across it, we fell in love almost immediately. Ric and Sal were suitably impressed, and so I contacted Ragnok, who helped us obtain the land. _

_Helga and I have started making plans for the layout of the school, because we must have a place before we move on to the other aspects of it all._

**_July 13, 851 AD_**

_Sal and Ric have drawn up plans for our new government. They call it the Wizengamot, and whenever they say the word, all I can think of is a bunch of old men sitting in a circle and inspecting their bunions. I haven't told the men, of course, because other than the name, there is nothing wrong with the concept. _

_The idea is to have seven Houses as the main benefactors. For each House, there will be three lesser Houses who contribute to the plans. And of course, we will have one person at the head of it all. He will have no say in the proceedings; he is present to keep order, as well as to be aware of the changes and information so that he may inform King Aethelwulf's middleman of anything important. _

_In theory, the setup is a good one. I hope that it works out as the men desire. _

_They need to choose Houses for this situation, as well as a witch or wizard who will converse with the king's middleman. I admit to being curious as to who they will choose, after all, they are limited to Wizarding Britannia; we are the only ones to have lost a monarch, and therefore the only ones struggling with a lack of balance. _

_Of course, we are also the only ones who relied on a monarch for balance in the first place, so perhaps that has something to do with our situation._

**_September 2, 851 AD_**

_Hel and I have made progress on the school. At least, we have laid the foundations for it, and I must admit to being quite excited to begin building it. I can already see it in my mind's eye - it will be beautiful. _

_The school will take a long time to build, though it will go faster once Ric and Sal are available to help out. As it is, though, they are busy enough with their Wizengamot project. They help us whenever they can, but sometimes it's not enough. _

_I recently learned that Hel is an Enchantress, and a rather gifted one at that. It seems that the four of us, though proficient in all areas of magic discovered so far, have one area that we are each truly gifted. For Helga, it is Enchanting. For Godric, it is Battle Magic. Sal is almost equally gifted in Defense Magic as he is in Potions though he leans more toward the former. And I myself am talented in Runes. I believe this to be a result of my exposure to the subject matter by Grandfather Atlas as a young child. _

_And so, given our personal strengths, Hel and I have decided to Enchant each stone of the school we are building. On each, I will etch a Rune onto the base, and before putting the stones together, Helga will Enchant them. Our school will be the safest place in the world. It must be. After all, children will be living here. Our future will be here, and they must be protected._

**_June 14, 852 AD_**

_The school has progressed, but not enough to warrant writing about. _

_Instead, I am writing to say that Ric and Sal have finally succeeded in forming our government. In total, there are nine and twenty members of the Wizengamot. Each member is a representative of some House in our world. _

_The main seven are our oldest Houses, which are typically no older than half a century old. Even my House, which is one of the seven, is only around six and a half decades old. We are one of the oldest Houses, which says very little about the age of this world in comparison to that of the Mundanes. _

_Besides both of my fathers' Houses, Ric's family is represented, as is Sal's. Hel's is the fifth House of the seven, followed by House Blæc , as well as House Cnotta. I tried to convince the men that having both House Peverell and House ven Clau might seem as though they are trying to show favoritism, but no one has made any objections. It seems as though I will be expected to have more than one child in the future. _

_Some of the minor Houses that Ric and Sal have included are House Wesele, House Bulastrijden, House Brúnas, House Garo, House Kornfuss, House Krabbi, House Plinth, House Grungras, House Hearpere, House Hygge, House Estranger, House Langrbotn, House Liefgut, House Malfeit, House Princepes, House Schaklynbout, and House Púlic. _

_Ric and Sal have a document drawn up that outlines what the Wizengamot's duties are, what their freedoms are, and the laws of the land, as decided by both the Pendragon family and King Aethelwulf. _

_I cannot say that I understand the entire thing, but that matters little. I will not personally be involved in that business, and anything I need to know will be told to me by my family or friends._

**_January 1, 853 AD_**

_I have given birth to a baby boy that Enoch and I have decided to call Holden. He will be the next to sit in the ven Clau seat on the Wizengamot. Helena is very excited that we have finally provided her a younger sibling, but I doubt that will last long. She is a flighty child at nearly seventeen. I hope she will find herself soon._

**_July 15, 855 AD_**

_With Ric and Sal helping, Hel and I have finally finished the school. It is beautiful, and feels as though it is alive to some extent. I will investigate the sentience further at some other time. _

_The school is a castle made of Enchanted stones, as I have mentioned before. It has four towers, one for each of our families. The front of the castle faces the Black Lake, and the back faces the forest. Near the front of the school is a large room with enough room to fit thousands of people. It is where meals will be eaten. Directly underneath the Great Hall is the kitchen, and below the kitchen are the Dungeons. The castle has bridges connecting the towers to each other, and all four towers are built down into the same depth as the Dungeons are. _

_The castle has seven floors, though the towers have more. In the center of the castle, there is a fifth tower that rises up. Inside, parts of the castle are open to the elements, and there are greenhouses. The castle is lit by candles, and has plenty of windows. _

_The grounds of the castle have plenty of trees and rocks by the Black Lake, and there is about an acre of flat terrain dedicated to whatever the menfolk decide. Hel and I decided to add a house for a groundskeeper down by the forest. _

_I love this school. It is beautiful and welcoming. _

_Ric and Sal insist that we need a name for the school, while Hel has mentioned that we need a day to start educating the children. When she mentioned this, I had to point out that we needed to invite children to our school, as well. _

_Ric was the one to choose the name for the school, and he's been acting like a child all day because of it. The man stumbled across a pig wandering through the school the other day. The pig had some peculiar spots marking its skin, and somehow that inspired Godric to name the school Hogwarts. _

_I was not approving of the name, but then the others pointed out that since the school was Hel's brainchild, the name Ric's and the Wizengamot Sal's, the first day of school could be of my choosing. And because Hogwarts is near and dear to my heart, the first day is September first, just as my birthday is. _

_Now all we must do is find children for our school._

**_August 3, 855 AD_**

_The four of us went separate directions in our search for students. I returned to Britannia, Hel to Cambria, Ric travelled to Éirinn, and Sal volunteered to travel further East. We have agreed to meet back at Hogwarts with our protégés on my birthday._

**_September 1, 855 AD_**

_Today I returned to Hogwarts with the students I have gathered together. Gabriel Cnotta was the first to accept, and he was followed by Turais and Lyra Blæc and Mykol Langrbotn. Tatum Wesele, Rue Estranger, and Magnus Liefgut also accepted my invitations, as did a number of Mundane-borns. Of the other Houses in our world, none have children old enough to attend as of yet. _

_Helena has agreed to assist in teaching, she is gifted in Charms. Enoch will teach Potions so that Sal may focus on Defense. Adelia will teach our students about plants and creatures, of both the Magical and non-magical varieties. Silas has agreed to provide lessons in Transfigurations. Ric and Sal have gotten both my husband and Hel's to agree to weapons training. I have no doubt that our students will need such skills in the future._

_Hel has returned with a few students to add to our numbers. Her son - Felix - is one of the students who will attend, as will Adaire Zaibine and Sebatan Galbinus. She had less luck in Cambria, in part because there are less people. _

_Sal has returned with a wife named Aithne, and as many students as Hel. Their names are Solomon Sneeuw and Corvan Magister. _

_Ric had less luck than the rest of us in Éirinn, only finding Delphine Einfühlung to join us. Of course, his children - Adan and Mikæla - will also join. _

_Truth be told, I did not expect to find so many students interested as we have. It is no matter. This school is built to house thousands, and I believe we will see growth in the coming years._

**_October 31, 855 AD_**

_The first few weeks have gone well. The children seem happy and are learning a lot. My friends and I are pleased with the progress we have made. Our world no longer seems as though it is about to splinter. _

_It is as though we are healing, though I believe it is more similar to having patched up a wound. This is a solution that will hold for a while, but eventually we will need to find a better fix. I pray that this time does not come for many centuries. _

_On another note, Hogwarts has been changing. I believe that having each stone steeped in Magic has something to do with it. But I also think that the constant presence of Magical beings has caused this change. _

_The ceiling of the Great Hall no longer has the appearance of stone. Instead, it mirrors the sky at all times of the day. It is quite beautiful. Another change is the suits of armor that have begun lining the corridors. They stand at attention, their armor always gleaming and their weapons sharp. The centermost tower now has gargoyles guarding the entrance, and some of the staircases have begun moving. More than once, I have rescued one of the students from the stairs. Some of the steps act like quicksand - they grab on, and the more one struggles, the faster it sucks them in. _

_Mykol found out that if you struggle enough, the stair will suck you all the way in and drop you down to the floor below. _

_The other day, I was walking along the seventh floor corridor, wondering where I had put one of my tomes, and a door appeared. I opened it, and inside was an entire library, though most of the shelves were empty. _

_Sal tells me that yesterday he was speaking to his basilisk - Jormungand - when a wall in his office opened up. He explored the entrance and found a tunnel heading down into a great cavern. Ric, Hel and I have agreed that he may keep Jormungand in the chamber when he is out. _

_Ric mentioned that when he was in the centermost tower two weeks ago - before the gargoyles popped up - a phoenix of scarlet and gold entered through the window and promptly experienced its burning day. _

_Helga tells me that House Elves have been popping up in the kitchens, offering to help out around the castle. She accepted, and ever since, food has been popping up on the table in the Great Hall at meal times. _

_Gabriel Cnotta has requested Enoch's permission to Court Helena. Enoch agreed, and I do not know if I have ever seen Lena as happy as she is now._

**_February 14, 856 AD_**

_Gabriel proposed to Helena today, and she accepted. I am ecstatic. _

_These past few months have been interesting. Hogwarts continues to shift and change - I have leaned against a wall and found myself in a corridor on the other side of the castle. Adan reports having found several passages out of the castle. This confirms that Hogwarts is sentient. She is preparing for an attack, though I do not know when it will occur. _

_I pray to all the gods that it is not in my lifetime. _

_I have been busy researching four artifacts that were given to us by the Goblins. They were gifted at Yule, and the motion has proclaimed us four and our families friends of that warrior race. _

_To Helga, they gave a golden goblet decorated with badgers. To Sal, they gifted a golden locket with a snake etched into the surface. Godric received a sword made of silver and set with rubies, his name is etched into the blade. I was given a silver diadem set with sapphires. The Goblins mentioned that these creations - all Goblin made - might have special properties, and when I discussed the matter with Ragnok, he assured me that these were gifts that the Goblin race would never dream of repossessing. It made me wonder why; after all, Goblins are notoriously possessive of their creations. _

_I have finally discovered the properties the Goblins hinted at. Hel's goblet will turn anything into food and drink. It is an advanced form of transfiguration because the food may have been anything, but it is certainly food once it is removed from the cup. It tastes as food does, and is as nourishing as any food I have ever eaten. _

_Sal's locket protects the wearer from anything, be it spells or weapons. When the wearer is attacked, a solid shield forms all around them, protecting them from harm while also allowing them to attack their enemies with either spell fire or weapons. _

_Ric's sword appears to never dull, and it takes in that which makes it stronger. Interestingly, the sword also returns to its owner when the call. Once I discovered that, Ric made use of the ability, and caused the sword to disappear when I was attempting to study it. _

_My diadem is perhaps less complex, though no less useful in its simplicity. Simply put, the diadem allows the wearer to take in and retain knowledge at an otherwise impossible rate. It is a very useful artifact, and its beauty allows me to wear it at all times. _

_The Goblins have fueled my search for knowledge._

**_May 1, 860 AD_**

_The school has grown. Each year we gain new students, and they have started joining us at ten and one years of age. They tend to stay until their magical maturity at ten and seven, though many stay longer than that. Those that leave us go out into our world and make great changes. Some pursue higher education in certain areas, and of those, some start their own businesses, while others return to us. Those that return are often found in classrooms, teaching the children. _

_With growth comes change, and the most noticeable has been the development of Houses. At Hogwarts, Houses are like families, and the loyalty shown is reminiscent of familial Houses. Ric, Sal, Hel and I are the heads of the Houses, and the students of each of our Houses stay in one of the corner towers. _

_The students are separated by traits we value most. For me, that is wit. For Hel it is kindness; Sal appreciates cunning. Ric appreciates courage. _

_The Houses help our students find their families away from blood, and yet none of them are segregated from each other based on their House. In fact, this system seems as though it makes their experiences easier to deal with; despite the students' differences, they are all loyal and hard working._

_I believe these changes are for the best. _

_Lena and Gabriel were married a few years ago, and just last week Lena gave birth to twins, both of them boys, and named them Cassius and Calvin. _

**_June 5, 865 AD_**

_Enoch was seen performing magic yesterday. The Mundane who saw him was terrified, and attacked unexpectedly. Enoch is dead and buried. My heart lies with him._

**_June 11, 865 AD_**

_In her grief, Lena fled the country yesterday. I find myself weakening each day. I fear that I will not live much longer. _

_Gabriel has left to follow Lena. He misses her, and wishes to bring her back to the castle. I pray that they return before I die. _

_Holden is miserable after the death of his father, and has turned to Sal and Ric and Hel for comfort. I cannot find it in myself to comfort him when I am in just as much pain as he is. _

_Where do we go when we die?_

**_June 20, 865 AD_**

_Lena and Gabriel have returned as ghosts. Lena ran into trouble as she fled, and by the time Gabriel found her, she was taking her last breaths. _

_He was taken by surprise and killed by the same man who murdered Helena. _

_I find myself sicker than ever. _

_Lena will not speak to anyone. Her grief is too great; she has lost her father, has lost her life, has lost the ability to comfort her children and husband. _

_Gabriel is just as silent as Helena for the same reasons. He is silent because he feels as though he has failed his wife and his family. _

_I pity them._

**_July 1, 865 AD_**

_Aithne has given birth to Sal's first child. She named their son Enoch and named Holden Godfather. I am glad that she has given my son something to live for. _

_Yesterday, Sal's younger brother visited. I was unaware that my friend had a younger brother, but after meeting him, I understand why we were never introduced. Sal's brother - Ephraim - as well as the rest of his family find Mundanes distasteful at best. At worst they believe them to be no better than cattle with impure blood. _

_Ephraim offered to hunt down the Mundane who killed Enoch and dispose of the man. Sal and Ric became furious and forcibly removed Ephraim from the castle. _

_I wish that Ephraim's words wouldn't hurt Sal's reputation, but I have already heard the whispers. I pray that Sal is strong enough to withstand them._

**_September 1, 865 AD_**

_Soon I will join Enoch in the afterlife. I give my blessings to my family - of blood and choice. I bid you change the world. Statera Familia et Officium._


	4. Page Seven

Hogwarts: a History

Rowena Ravenclaw found her way to her deathbed after the death of her husband. Enoch Ravenclaw was seen practicing his magic by a Muggle. The Muggle who witnessed his display approached Enoch from behind and killed him before he could defend himself.

Rowena grieved for months before finally joining her husband in the afterlife, though it is speculated her death was speeded on by Salazar Slytherin.

Slytherin was a Muggle hater, and when he discovered the reason for Enoch Ravenclaw's demise, he approached Rowena with an offer. He would hunt down the Muggle who was responsible for Enoch's death, and he would kill the man himself.

Rowena refused his offer, and Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff forcibly removed the Muggle hating wizard from the castle grounds and bade him never return.

From that day on, Salazar Slytherin was never welcomed back into Hogwarts, and only a few short months passed before Rowena departed from this world to move on to the next.

It is said that the wise witch died of heartbreak.


	5. Ignotus Peverell

**_May 9, 1214 AD_**

_Today, Antioch, Cadmus and I visited the elder trees where our ancestors are buried. We have been thinking of death and its many forms. _

_Antioch and Cadmus are both good men with great flaws. Antioch flies into a temper whenever he loses anything at all. Cadmus is stuck beneath the ground with his late wife, a mundane named Celia Gaunt, whose name he gave their son. _

_I, myself, prefer to hide from my problems rather than face them head on. _

_I often contemplate what makes the three of us so disinclined to preserve our family duty. We are far from the only remaining Peverells, and yet we are the most well known for the fact that we are most directly descended from Atlas Peverell. _

_I wonder what he would think of us, should he see my brothers and I now, for we shirk both family and duty. _

_The elder trees are strong and tall, and house great quantities of magic. They also reek of death. _

**_May 13, 1214 AD_**

_Antioch is determined to create an unbeatable wand. I have tried to tell him that an unbeatable wand does not mean an unbeatable master. He sneers at my advice and contemplates thestrals and elder wood and death. _

_I contemplate shadows and dark corners and hidden secrets. I contemplate the benefits of hiding beneath the ground and never coming up. _

**_June 1, 1214 AD_**

_Cadmus is the first of us to make a breakthrough. He has been searching for a way to commune with the dead, and has built an archway of marble and quartz from which there hangs a black veil that Cadmus claims is made of a Dementor's cloak. If one stands close enough, whispers echo from it - they are cold and disapproving and full of hatred. _

_I am quietly terrified. _

**_June 12, 1214 AD_**

_Antioch has a great desire for power - he wants an unbeatable wand, but with Cadmus' initial failure, he decided to begin elsewhere. He ended up with reflective glass. It shows him as a powerful man. _

_It shows Cadmus with Celia and his son. _

_It shows me in solitude. _

_I have concluded that the mirror shows your greatest desire. I have marked the elder wood around it with runes to preserve it, and I have written the mirror's purpose around the border. _

_I am not certain why I have covered the mirror with runes. Perhaps it is because the power of the mirror is strong and has me returning to admire my reflection. _

_It is as though the mirror keeps drawing me back. _

_ I find this terrifying, as well. _

**_July 16, 1214 AD_**

_I have made great progress in my attempts to achieve invisibility. I ended up with a device that makes one invisible to the others in it. However, it deals in memory magic, and I do not wish to rely on memories to become invisible. _

_I will keep this as a success, though it was not my goal. _

_I plan to keep searching, I believe I am close to achieving my goal. _

**_August 15, 1214 AD_**

_Antioch's competitive nature has ensured that he was the first to succeed. _

_He used his mirror as a basis for his unbeatable wand. I am uncertain as to how he made the jumps necessary to get from his mirror to an unbeatable wand, but he succeeded. _

_Antioch Peverell is the proud owner of an unbeatable wand. I simply hope he can keep from boasting. _

**_August 20, 1214 AD_**

_Cadmus used a piece of a thestral's skull and the ashes of a dead man to create his resurrection stone. He wove thestral hair around it and crystalized it. The stone, like Antioch's wand, is carved with our family's symbol. _

_I feel as though we are tainting our family's legacy. _

_Rather than the whispers of the dead, Cadmus was able to summon Celia. She was displeased with this turn of events, but seems to have decided to forgive Cadmus. _

_There is a feeling of dread that lingers deep in my bones. Something terrible this way comes. _

**_August 23, 1214 AD_**

_I have made my invisibility cloak. It is the color of liquid silver, and is woven with the hair of a thestral and a demiguise. I stitched the hairs together with memory threads - those floating, silvery, wispy strands that I have taken from myself. These particular memories are filled with my desire for solitude. I threaded Runes into the hem with gold. _

_I, too have tainted our family legacy. I pricked my finger and traced our symbol into a corner of the cloak. _

_It is my hope that the cloak lasts until the end of time, looking freshly made, and expanding as needed by the wearer. _

_All of my experiments show that these goals should be possible. _

_To ensure success, I have woven some of my own memories into the body of the cloak - mostly memories of emotions I experience when I melt into the background, and some of my time in the memory device, where I was unacknowledged - which lends to the silvery color, as does the touch from my magic, which is silver. _

_I believe that the cloak's exposure to my magic, blood and memories has made it immune to the magic of others. Antioch and Cadmus cannot track me whilst I am covered by the cloak, nor can they summon it, and they cannot place curses or charms into the fabric. _

**_September 1, 1214 AD_**

_Antioch is dead. I warned him that an unbeatable wand does not equate an unbeatable owner. He refused to listen. _

_His boasts led to competitions. He won, of course; the wand would not allow him to lose. _

_His throat was slit in the dead of night, and his wand stolen. _

_I have made it my mission to recover the wand for two reasons. One is that it is too dangerous to be out in the world. It is too dangerous to be more than a myth. Second is that the wand is made from the elder tree under which our forefather, Atlas Peverell, was buried. _

_The wood of the wand is saturated in magic - Atlas was a powerful wizard in his own right, elder wood is rare and powerful, and the tree under which his body - the third of our family to be buried - lays, was the third to be planted on the third piece of land he procured for his family. _

_Three is a powerful number. Antioch knew this when he made the wand, for he also braided three tail hairs from three thestrals together. And he told me that each hair was the third on the tail. _

_I must find it, for I fear the destruction it could bring into the world if it remains lost. _

**_September 3, 1214 AD_**

_Cadmus hanged himself this morning. Celia grew unhappy the longer she stayed in our world. I believe it caused her great pain to remain on this side of the veil than she let on. Cadmus followed her to his veil yesternight, and watched as she passed through it to join the angry whispers of the dead. _

_Cadmus let her return, but found he could not bear life without her, when he had enjoyed her company again. _

_I find myself wondering if my brothers and I were too ambitious in our goals. Two of the three of us are deceased. _

_I have passed the stone on to Cadmus' daughter, in the form of a ring. Cadmus carved upon the surface of the stone our family's symbol. I will claim it to be Cadmus' when I inform his daughter of her father's death. _

_I am hopeful that both the wand and the stone will be erased from history, though I am not optimistic about the outcome. At least the cloak will stay in the family. _

**_January 7, 1220 AD_**

_I have had no luck in my search for Antioch's wand, despite following rumors. _

_People speak of an unbeatable wand and the bloody trail that follows in its wake. _

_Everyone I come across denies any knowledge of the accursed thing. _

**_November 23, 1220 AD_**

_Still no luck with the wand. _

_I have met a woman and asked for her hand in marriage. She has accepted. _

_We are to be married within a fortnight. _

**_December 7, 1220 AD_**

_Azaria Léaina is my new wife. She is from Athens, and I met her on my search for Antioch's wand. _

_Azaria was bitten by a werewolf when she was a child. She is one of the lucky few who can control her shift. Her family is descended from Remus, brother of Romulus. We believe that this has something to do with her ability to control it, as Remus grew up with Lupa. _

_Perhaps the knowledge of how to commune with wolves has been inherited. _

_Whatever it is has made Azaria stronger and faster than the average witch, and her magic is as strong as mine. _

_My wife has the amber eyes of a were, and the scar from the bite marks her right shoulder. She has wild black curls with golden strands woven into the locks. She is quite beautiful, and we have already ensured that we will be able to have children together. _

_Azaria is knowledgeable in runes and arithmancy, and has recorded her findings about werewolves - both her own experiences and those of other weres. _

_I find myself looking forward to life with her; I no longer desire solitude, though my cloak will always be useful to me. For now, I have put the fabric away; I will tell Azaria about my brothers' and my mistakes. I pray that she will advise me. _

_I pray that I will find a way to protect the world from our decisions. _

**_March 2, 1221 AD_**

_I told Azaria about the foolishness of myself and my brothers yesterday. She seemed equal parts disappointed and impressed. I asked her for advice, and she suggested that I tell a story to cover up our reality. _

_She thanked me for telling her about my mistakes, and I believe she is proud that I want to fix them. _

_On another note, Ria is pregnant. We are both quite excited for the birth of our child, though she has voiced her concerns that our child may turn out to be a werewolf. I must admit that I am unsure if our child will be born with lycanthropy or not, but I am sure that it will not matter either way. _

_I will love our child no matter what. _

**_June 13, 1221 AD_**

_Ria and I chose to move away from my ancestral home. It is beautiful and filled with memories, but it is large, and we are often the only inhabitants. So, we decided to build a home near the coast, where our children can grow up and not be separated by the many wings of the Manor. _

_I have built our new home, and it resembles a large cottage. In the same style as the Manor, our cottage is made of wood and stone, with a ward stone in the library. It is located on only five acres of land, and is situated upon a cliff that overlooks the ocean. _

_It is beautiful here, and Ria seems happy. I look forward to raising our children here. _

**_September 1, 1221 AD_**

_I have decided to keep the story as close to the truth as possible, while also making it clear that it is a fallacy. _

_It will go like this: three brothers are traveling along a road. They come across a violent stream and build a bridge across it. Death offers them a reward for thwarting him, and the eldest asks for an unbeatable wand. The middle brother requests a stone to raise the dead. The youngest brother asks for a cloak of invisibility. The eldest brother's throat is slit, and the wand stolen. The middle brother kills himself in his grief, and his child receives the stone. The youngest brother lives a long life and joins Death as an old friend, many years later. _

_It is almost what happened, with enough fantasy in it that very few will believe it, if any do. _

_I hope no one considers the fact that it might be real. These artifacts are too powerful to end up in the wrong hands. _

**_December 20, 1221 AD_**

_Ria gave birth this afternoon. Our first-born has her amber eyes and black hair. Ria has chosen the name Remus Ignotus. _

_Our child honors Ria's ancestors, and since he has received her eyes and hair, as well as her lycanthropy, Ria insisted that I give him my name. _

_I did not object, and like my forefathers, I set up a trust fund with the Goblins. Ragnok is in charge of yet another vault, though he does not seem at all upset by this, if his sharp grin and rusty congratulations are anything to go by. _

_I finally understand what Atlas was doing when he set up all the rules for our family. Now that I have lost my brothers and gained a wife and son, I understand the desire to protect family. _

_I will do anything for my family. _

**_May 5, 1222 AD_**

_Remus does not have the same control over his shift as Ria does. It hurts him to shift into his wolf form each full moon. Ria and I cannot bear to watch the pain he goes through each month, especially not at such a young age. _

_We have started to experiment with potions and spells. With any luck, we will come up with something that will allow Remus to move from one form to another at will. _

_I fear that if we do not, the pain will be too much to bear. _

_I will not lose my child to his nature. _

**_June 11, 1222 AD_**

_Ria and I have finally created a spell that will separate Remus from his wolf form. I am unsure what will happen to the wolf, but Remus will no longer suffer through the pain of the shift each month. _

_We have plans to perform the spell today, at high noon. I hope that this will fix our problems. _

**_June 13, 1222 AD_**

_Last night was a full moon. Remus didn't shift, so he didn't go through that pain, thank Merlin. _

_He shifted this morning. He is now able to become a wolf at will. I believe that our spell has separated Remus from the wolf, and put them back together in a way that means they are no longer fighting each other. _

_It is as though werewolves are two beings, and most of them cannot share the body they are trapped in. It is as though werewolves are two beings - a human and a wolf - who are broken and shoved together with those ragged edges meeting and causing pain. _

_This spell - _Secreti Melius - _pulls the two apart and smooths the edges and puts them back together. It mends the broken edges and makes the werewolf what it should have been all along. _

_Remus now has control over both forms, and he is a werewolf in the same way that Ria is. The strength and speed and senses of the wolf carry over into the human form. _

_Ria and I are very pleased with the outcome of this spell. I hope it will be used in the future, so that werewolves need not experience the pain my son has. _

**_April 1, 1222 AD_**

_Ria has given birth to are both boys, and they have my grey eyes and Ria's black and gold hair. _

_We have named them Calum Arcturus and Atlas James. They are nearly identical, the only difference being that one of Calum's eyes is amber, while both of Atlas' are grey. _

_Neither of them are werewolves; though if they had been, Ria and I could have used our spell - there have been no adverse effects so far. _

_Ria has been planning to have a family reunion back at the Manor in a month or two. She thinks that our family should be closer than it is, and I have to agree. I know that when Atlas first founded the family, everyone was very close, but as time goes on, we have become more spread out. _

_I fear that our family will one day fade as the Pendragon family did. They, too, began as a large family. But over the generations, they had fewer and fewer children. And by the time Caelum became king, the family had no spare heirs - and Caelum had no children, so the Pendragons died out. _

_The world has suffered for it. We no longer have king, and are often in a state of discord. Our family is working to keep everything in line, but if we are not careful, we will end up like the Pendragons: barely more than a memory. _

_And so, I have agreed with Ria; we will have a reunion, and everyone in the family will be there. Thank goodness the Manor has enough land for such things to be possible. _

_It makes me think. We have all become buried in our duty. Are any of us balancing family and duty, anymore? I am certain that Atlas would be appalled to see the state of our family. It is so young, and yet we are already falling apart and forgetting ourselves._

**_23 June 1222 AD_**

_Today is the Summer Solstice, and the day Ria has chosen for the reunion. Everyone was invited weeks ago, and everyone showed up. _

_I can say honestly that I had no idea of how big the family truly is. There are hundreds of us, and it is frankly impressive how much we have grown since our founding. _

_Even the death of my brothers years ago has not diminished the size of our family. I must say that it is a good thing for us that the Manor's rooms are bigger than they appear. _

_Ria invited everyone to arrive today, and to stay for seven; we are all obsessive about magic. Today is a magically powerful day, and seven is a powerful number. The Manor will be full for a week, and though I am uncertain what Ria has planned, I do know that she has put a great deal of preparation into this event._

**_30 June 1222 AD_**

_Our family is insane. The Manor was always bustling, children were constantly underfoot, there were several arguments and heated debates about spells or potions. _

_But we are closer to each other, now. We have plans to meet at the Manor again for Lammas, the Autumn Equinox, Samhain, Winter Solstice, Yule, Imbolc, the Spring Equinox, Beltane, and the next Summer Solstice. The family wants these gatherings to become tradition. _

_Today, Ria and I were followed home by one of my cousins. Because apparently, we are now able to drop into everyone's homes whenever we desire. It's part of becoming closer as a family. _

_Ria has decided to invite her side of the family to Lammas and every holiday after that. I cannot say I am displeased by this turn of events. I desire company in a way that I never did when my brothers were still alive. _

_It is good to know that we are not alone in this world. _

**_August 1, 1222 AD_**

_Today is Lammas, so the entire family is back at the Manor for three days. _

_I predict that these days will be filled with chaos. The turnout is even larger than it was on the Solstice because Ria invited everyone's families, cousins, in-laws, decrepit great-uncles five times removed. Everyone that anybody has a blood relation to is at the Manor. I believe we might need to find a new location if we intend to keep this up. We haven't yet exceeded the capacity of the land available, but we will soon. _

_As of right now, there are no signs of this family decreasing any time soon. I can't say I'm disappointed by that. _

_Ria has agreed to begin searching for a larger venue, though she mentioned that lands larger than those of the Manor will be difficult to protect. Then she got a peculiar look and walked off to find someone. I do not doubt that she will share her idea with me once it is more developed. _

_For now, I must go and entertain our various family members. _

**_August 5, 1222 AD_**

_Ria wants to form a coven. She wants one female from each of the original lines, of which there are seven. _

_She has decided she will be in the coven, which means that she only needs to find six females from Atlas' children's lines. Since she technically counts for Polaris' line through me, she only needs to get people from Athena, Christopher, Avalon, Andromeda, Roman and Freyja's lines to agree. _

_I understand her reasoning. A coven will protect more land than an order of wizards ever will, given that a coven is made of seven and an order only includes three. Either option would be better than relying on wards to protect as much land as we require, but a coven will be the best option. I just think that it will be difficult to find someone for each of the lines to agree. _

_It will be most difficult to find someone for Christopher's line because Rowena was his only child. As far as I know, Rowena only gave birth to Helena, who died fairly young. Ria and I will have to investigate the family tree in the vault to find someone from Christopher's line who is still alive; Rowena is long dead, and Helena's ghost speaks to no one. _

**_August 10, 1222 AD_**

_Ria visited Ragnok the other day to try to find someone for Christopher's line. She lucked out, and was able to find someone. Today, Ria has gone to visit her candidates for the positions in the coven. She has assigned me the task of finding an appropriate piece of land for our future gatherings. _

_She requests a great deal of land, with trees and water and no one near. I agree with her wish for seclusion; some day we may need to hide our land, and we don't want people noticing that it's missing all of a sudden. _

_I decided to ask Ragnok if he knows of any pieces of land that meet our requirements. He told me he'd look around, and he informed me yesterday that he had found an island that he thought I would like. _

_I went to see it today, and it is perfect. There is a large area of sand at one end, and the rest of the island is covered in grass and trees. There are a few inlets where water touches, and the island extends farther than I saw, because the water was high. I told Ria about it, and she agreed to visit it. _

_With her approval, I will begin building a living space for our family members. Then we will have to decide what to call the island. _

_I wonder how we will manage to hide it in the future. _

**_May 2, 1223 AD_**

_Ria has given birth to a daughter. She has black hair and grey eyes; her name is Ariadne Seren. _

_We have finished building on the island - Aonachd Island is the name we have chosen. Rather than one large house, I decided to build multiple cottages for each part of the family. In the center of the island is a pillared marble building with steps up to it. There are several long wooden tables in the space, where we will eat our meals, and then spend time wherever we wish on the island. _

_Ria has successfully pulled together her coven, and they have begun preparing protections for Aonachd. The women have named the coven Pugna Praesidio - fight to protect. They hope to be finished with the protections by the Summer Solstice, but have agreed to spend the week at the Manor if the island is unprotected. None of us are willing to risk our family, and the Mundanes have become dangerous and warlike. _

_We have just begun pulling together - the goal of this is not to lose everyone now that we have united. _

**_May 31, 1224 AD_**

_Cassandra Pandora was born yesterday. She, too, has black hair and grey eyes. She is much louder than any of our other children ever were. Ria and I are worried about her - she is perfectly healthy, and if anything we are doing better by her than the others. _

_There must be another explanation, and since Cass isn't a werewolf, and neither Ria nor I have banshees in our families, there is only one possibility that comes to mind. _

_I hope that I am wrong in thinking our daughter is a Seer. If she is, she will have a hard and tragic life ahead of her. _

_I pray to all the gods that I am wrong. _

**_January 3, 1230 AD_**

_Cass is a Seer, after all, and the things she has seen and shared with us have been equal parts terrible and great. She seems to see only into the far future, and for this I am grateful. No one will be able to prove her wrong for centuries, and we will have time to prepare. It seems as though many of her visions are subject to change, and they are rarely clear - often she Sees in symbols. _

_Dark times are coming, though I know not when. I have encouraged Cass to write her visions down, so that we may be prepared in the future. _

_I pray that Cass' visions and advice will be enough to save our world from demise. _

**_May 1, 1230 AD_**

_Both our immediate and extended families are closer than ever. I am grateful for this; Cass has foreseen a time when there will only be a very few of our family remaining. Merlin, but I pray that this will never come to pass. _

**_August 12, 1240 AD_**

_It has been years since I last wrote. Much of the past decade has been spent with our family. Nothing of true significance has occurred; children have been born, family members have died. Life comes full circle, again and again. _

_Remus has gotten married to a daughter of the Blæc family. Luna is quite lovely, with hair the color of coal and eyes of silver. _

_They were betrothed several months ago using a ring of looped silver and moonstone that Remus made himself. _

_The wedding was wonderful, my children are happy, and our family has grown once again. _

**_January 2, 1248 AD_**

_My children are all grown and married, and the only times I see them are when everyone is celebrating at Aonachd, or for the celebrations of their births. They all have children, now, and businesses of their own. Our family has opened so many shops around Gringotts over the two centuries that there is an entire street filled with them. _

_The other Magicals call the street Peverell Alley, though I doubt that it will remain under the same name for long. _

_Cass and Ariadne have opened up a place near the Wizengamot where people with illness and other needs go. Cass has no doubt used her visions for the progress she has made in that area. _

_Remus and Luna have been studying love, and have built a place for their research not far from the Wizengamot. When they showed me the land, I nearly gave everything away; it was uncomfortably close to Cadmus' veil. _

_I wonder, sometimes, if it is wrong of me to hide the mistakes my brothers and I made. But they think the world of me, and I cannot bring myself to darken their opinion of me, yet. _

_There is still time to introduce them to my fears and flaws. Today does not have to be the day that I confess. _

**_June 29, 1270 AD_**

_I grow older each year, and yet I look the same as the day I married Ria. Some people believe it is luck that keeps some wixen young while others age only slightly slower than a Mundane. _

_I do not believe in luck. I believe in magic. I hypothesize that the slower one ages shows how strong their magic is. Those with weaker magic age faster, while those with extraordinarily strong magic age far slower than their counterparts. _

_Ria and I are both nearly three quarters of a century old, yet neither of us look older than two decades. By looking at us, one would not be able to tell if we were older than our children, who also appear younger than their years. _

_I cannot say why some of us are more magically powerful - and therefore more youthful - than others. I would like to find out someday, though I have this feeling that the answer is right in front of my face. _

_It seems as though only certain Houses get weaker as the generations go by. Some remain as powerful as when I was a child, while others become progressively less so. _

_What is happening to our magic? _

**_December 23, 1300 AD_**

_No luck on the weakening magic front. _

_The family is larger than ever. _

_Ria and I have decided to leave the Cliffside Cottage for our children. It's too big - too empty - for just the two of us. So we've decided to find somewhere smaller. That way the house won't feel like it's full of ghosts. _

_No one's even died there, but sometimes it feels haunted by the memories of what used to be. Ghosts don't have to be only dead people, I've discovered. Sometimes ghosts come from emptiness, from memories, from lies and broken promises. And though dead people do not linger in the shadows here, all the other things do. _

_Remember the past, don't live in it. _

_It's time to move on. _

**_April 2, 1301 AD_**

_We have found a beautiful cottage in Godric's Hollow. It is smaller than the Cliffside Cottage, though the location is far greener. Its back faces a little pond where a tree grows near the center. Ria and I are quite enamoured. _

_We plan to spend the rest of our lives here, and when we die, we will pass down another property. Now that we have the Lionsmouth Cabin, Ria and I have decided that we might like to travel the world. I believe it will be a fascinating experience. I have always had an interest in other countries, and now that we no longer have the responsibility of children, and are no longer the hosts of the celebrations every month or so, we have the time to go anywhere. _

**_May 5, 1301 AD_**

_Ria has been trying to convince me that our family's coven will not be enough to protect us. She wants to form an order of wizards of the family. She claims that it's a preventative measure, that there is nothing coming anytime soon, but I wonder if she has been talking with Cass. _

_Whatever the case, Ria has learned something that has unsettled her, and so I believe I will agree to form the order she desires. _

_More protection for our family will not do us any harm. _

**_May 20, 1301 AD_**

_The order will be made of men descended from Polaris' line, Christopher's line, and Roman's line. One man from each of the original sons of the family. Remus has agreed to stand for Polaris, and I will turn to the family tree to find someone to stand for Christopher and Roman. _

_I wonder what is coming that demands an order and a coven. _

**_June 1 1301 AD_**

_I have found men for the remaining lines. All three of them are quite gifted, and magically powerful. All three are bonded in marriage, as well, so their magic is settled, and as strong as it will become. _

_They wished to honor the first mother of our family, and so they call the Peverell order the Order of the Phoenix. _

_Ria was ecstatic when she heard. _

_On another note, Ria and I have set off on our first adventure. We have headed East, for the tales of the riches found there are great. We have many years left to live, and hope to explore the entire world before we return back to Lionsmouth. _

**_August 3, 1301 AD_**

_Ria and I came across a wonderful island just yesterday as we made our way through Germania. It is green and healthy, with no one near. It is mountainous, with a valley looping around the center, which rises up and plateaus. It is a lovely place, and Ria and I have decided to claim it for our family. _

_We have informed the Goblins of our desire, and they contacted one of our family members who has an interest in architecture. He has agreed to begin building on the land, as it was previously unclaimed. Someday, we will have to buy land with money, but today is not that day. _

_We have named it the Northern Isle. _

**_September 1, 1301 AD_**

_Ria has stepped down from her position in Pugna Praesidio. She nominated Cass to take her place. Cass refused, saying that Ariadne should have it, but that she would act as an advisor for the coven. _

**_October 7, 1301 AD_**

_I am starting to think that my entire purpose in life is to find more land for this family. This time, Ria and I found a piece of land on the border of Mongolia. In this weather, it is stunning, all different colors. The land is said to be fertile. It is a little spit of land that lays on a river. It is mostly flat, with a hill reaching up and out. _

_Ragnok is unnaturally delighted each time we add a piece of land to our name. _

_The Crescent Aral will be built upon in a few months' time. I am curious to see what our cousin will create. I trust that he will make any lodgings sturdy and pleasing to the eye. _

_Both Pugna Praesidio and the Order of the Phoenix have offered to lay protections on our new land, including Lionsmouth. Ria and I have accepted. _

**_December 23, 1301 AD_**

_I have been trying to come up with a spell that will hide our lands from unfriendly eyes. I have almost succeeded. Yesterday, I managed a spell that is close to what I am attempting to create. Ria agreed that it had some flaws, but that it could still be used. _

_It is not a difficult spell. It is reminiscent of an Unbreakable Vow in casting, but only needs two people. One person casts the spell, while the other has the spell cast upon them. They are told the name or location of the place being hidden, and all knowledge of the location is wiped from the caster's mind. It is also removed from the minds of anyone who previously knew the location. _

_Essentially, the location becomes a secret, and the one holding the knowledge of it becomes the secret keeper. They have the power to share the secret, and once it is shared, it will remain in the minds of those receiving the secret. _

_I call it the Fidelius Charm. _Secretum Celare_. _

_I agree with Ria that it has flaws. It requires a great deal of trust, for it requires the secret keeper to tell the secret willingly. One must trust that their keeper will not betray them. _

_I will continue to try finding a solution to this idea. I want the land to disappear off the maps. I want it to disappear from existence - as though it never existed. This is where the Fidelius fails, for it does not remove the existence from mind, only the location. _

**_February 12, 1302 AD_**

Abscondita est terra_. This is the spell that hides land. It makes places unplottable because they no longer exist except to a select few. There are a few differences between this and the Fidelius, even beyond what they do. The Fidelius hides. This spell erases. It is technically mind magic because it erases knowledge from everyone but the caster. _

_With this spell comes a few natural wards. The landowner must physically bring people into the area for it to exist to them. The name can only be spoken when in the vicinity, and only those keyed into the wards can bring people into the area, and the process to key someone in may be tedious. _

_This is exactly what I have been trying to accomplish. I will be able to hide our family's land from outsiders. The Goblins will have a record of our properties, each of which will have at least one House Elf. The House Elves will bring any visitors to the properties, as well as help out as negotiated between the Elves and our family. _

_I have placed on of the spells on all of our properties except the Manor; as of right now, people are so rarely there that there is no point in protecting it further than its basic wards. _

**_April 7, 1302 AD_**

_Ria and I are making our way back across the continents. We made a stop in Hindustan and, unsurprisingly, claimed another piece of land we call the Mariscis. It is beautiful and peaceful there, and the land is extensive enough that I hope to have a village built upon it at some point. For now, though, I will settle for a single house that leaves room for expansion later on. _

_Then, we stopped in Kemet, near the Nile. The land was beautiful, and the black soil intriguing. For posterity, Ria and I chose a smaller piece of land on the river. We have named it the Nirobe, and hope to use the fertile land to grow crops so that we are less dependent on others. _

_In Kemet, the magic used is impressive, and almost entirely in Runes. Ria and I have tried to learn some of their magic, and have added what we know to the family grimoire. _

**_June 1, 1302 AD_**

_We made a stop in Athens yesterday evening. The wizards there are ruled by a council of twelve. They are from the same family, and seem to be just rulers. They are all very powerful. I feel as though they have the same magical strength as myself and Ria, though it is possible they are stronger. The Mundanes of Athens see the twelve - Olympians, as they call themselves - as gods. _

_The eldest of the Olympians - Zeus - offered an alliance between our family and his. Ria and I accepted, and in a gesture of goodwill, Zeus gifted us with more land. In this case, we were gifted a stone house that is surrounded by other stone houses, none of them identical. Interestingly, the house is in a part of the city that is inhabited by Mundanes and Magicals. This is not entirely surprising, as the wizards here seem to have a far better relationship with the Mundanes than we do. _

_So the house - Toúvlo Orofí - has houses in any direction of it, and nearly half belong to Mundanes. They are really quite progressive humans. _

_It seems to me that it is time to begin interacting with Mundanes. _

**_June 17, 1302 AD_**

_Ria and I have made our way to Rome. The city is fascinating, with its colosseum and the pantheon. It is similar to Athens, but in some ways it is as though they are older, even though Athens is by far the oldest of the two. _

_I wonder if Athens' youth has something to do with the Olympians. _

_Rome seems as though it has been steadily leached from by its many emperors. Perhaps they are the reason for Rome's aged appearance. It is still a beautiful city, though. _

_I swear that I was not intending on adding more land to our possessions, but it as though plots of it throw themselves at me. Ria and I have gained yet another piece of land to our accounts. No doubt Ragnok will be overjoyed. _

_By another I mean Ria and I stumbled across two gorgeous areas and claimed them both. There are beautiful gardens at one and a waterfall at the other. The former is called Il Giardino and the latter is La Caduta Segreta. Both areas have houses made of marble already built. They are exquisite in their simplicity, and very elegant. _

**_July 30, 1302 AD_**

_Ria and I crossed the ocean out of curiosity. We did not expect to find land, let alone the quantity that is available. The land here varies drastically, and the magic is wild. _

_We informed Ragnok, who joined us for the last leg of our explorations. He looked on with insurmountable glee as we chose a plot of land between two lakes to add to our family assets. It is called Dyffryn Enfys and only a mile east of it is a little pool situated between two cliffs that we named Pwll Gwydr. _

_The land here is beautiful, and with Ria's assistance I have made it unplottable. Ragnok seemed approving. I am unsure if his approval is good or bad. _

_Ria and I have decided to return home to Lionsmouth. We have spent enough time exploring, and the Goblins will be busy excavating the land across the ocean for gold. _

_Never get between a Goblin and gold. There is a reason they work with Dragons, and it is not because they want to be friends. _

**_March 12, 1310 AD_**

_I have finally told my children of the mistakes my brothers and I made. I gifted Remus the invisibility cloak. The veil has been hidden - I do not know where it is any longer - and the mirror Antioch created has joined those deathless voices in hiding. _

_I gave Cass the memory device I created, and she promptly named it a Pensieve. _

_Ria and I are now three years and a decade older than a century. I have started feeling tired, and we have begun aging, though the process is still slow. I much prefer being frozen in time, my body and mind still youthful. Alas, all things must come to an end, and my end is fast approaching. _

_I cannot say I am disappointed. Despite my mistakes in my youth, I have lived a good life. I have done much in the time I have lived upon this earth, and even my youthful mistakes may be portrayed as accomplishments. I hope that my family's sacrifices will be appreciated in the future. _

**_May 23, 1320 AD_**

_I have spent all of my life hiding from Death. I have lived well, and am now prepared to join him._


	6. Kalen Peverell

**_February 29, 1530 AD_**

_The Goblins have grown restless. I am not certain why this is so, but tensions have been brewing amongst the creatures. There is some deep seated resentment that I am unaware of. My people have been unnaturally unkind toward the Goblin race, and no matter who I ask - be it the Lords in the Wizengamot or Ragnok - I can get no straight answers. _

_I suspect that whatever is brewing has not been discussed in the Wizengamot because all the Lords know who sits upon these seats. The Peverell family has grown since its founding, and since the days the Wizengamot was formed. _

_My family now holds not only the Peverell and Ravenclaw seats, but we also have the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin seats. They may pretend well, but these Lords fear our power. If something is brewing, my family does not know because it has been hidden from us. _

_No one in my family knows why tensions have grown so rapidly this past year. Something is coming, and I do not know what it is. _

_What is happening to our world? _

**_April 1, 1530 AD_**

_There was a Wizengamot meeting this afternoon. All the men were casting suspicious glances in my direction throughout, and I did not learn why until we reached the topic of the Goblins. _

_The relationship between the Peverell family and the Goblin race is legendary. To this day, my family is the only House that has achieved an alliance with the Goblins. They have been hiding this conflict from me for fear that I would side with the Goblins. And the Goblins have been avoiding the topic because they fear that we will join the other wixen against them. _

_The argument is idiotic. Goblins - who are magical creatures, I might add - wish to be allowed the use of wands. Not only that, but they also desire representation in the Wizengamot - they desire someone to stand for them and defend them. In my mind, these are not unreasonable requests. After all, the Goblins are thinking, feeling, magical beings. In some ways, we have more in common with Goblins than we do with Muggles, and we defer to the Muggle monarchy. _

_In response to this request, which has been deemed unreasonable by the majority of wizards, vulgar language and curses have been aimed toward the Goblins. It is the beginning of an all out war - everyone is choosing sides. _

_It is as though my kin have forgotten who keeps their gold. The Goblins hold their artifacts and fortunes beneath the stones of Diagon Alley, in mazes that cannot be navigated by wizards. I have no doubt that the Goblins have fought against the slurs and spells aimed at them. They have likely locked down the vaults of the families of their confirmed enemies. _

_After months of wondering, this has finally been brought up in the Wizengamot, and I believe it is because my fellow wizards expect me to choose a side, now that lines have been drawn. Whoever the Peverell family sides with will gain the full force of the not insignificant power of this family, and all our allies. _

_My compatriots have good reason to fear. I side with the Goblins. _

**_May 3, 1530 AD_**

_The streets have been silent for weeks. We have all been preparing for war. On the side of the aggressors are the Malfoys, Blacks, Notts, Carrows, Crabbes, Flints, LeStranges, and Princes. _

_Caught in the middle - those Houses desperate for peace, those who do not wish to take sides - are the Greengrasses, Higgses, Puceys, Bulstrodes, Harpers, Shacklebolts and Browns. _

_Those who have joined us to stand for the Goblins include the Longbottoms and Lovegoods and Weasleys. We have also been joined by the Veela, and the House Elves, and the Werewolves and Centaurs. Any magical creatures who desire the same thought afforded to wizards have joined our cause. _

_No matter who wins these battles, the repercussions will be great. I cannot foresee the future, but I can prepare for it regardless. _

**_June 21, 1530 AD_**

_Xia returned home to me at noontime today to report that there had been a massacre in the streets. My lovely wife should never have experienced such violence, and especially not when she had our children with her. _

_Xia tells me that the wizards attacked first; they barraged the doors of Gringotts with fury. She says that spell fire was flying in every direction, heedless of bystanders. Within moments, the Goblins opened their doors, charging out with their heavy swords and battle armor. The Goblin women stayed near the edges, casting spells of their own design against their attackers. _

_The attack was unexpected, and yet the Goblins have come out the victors of this battle. I visited Ragnok nearly an hour ago to offer my congratulations. _

_When I left, the Goblins were removing the dead from the streets. _

**_July 1, 1530 AD_**

_The wizards have been wary since the battle at Gringotts. For good reason, too. Their dead were found the next day, their heads on bloody stakes lining the streets of Diagon. In any other case, I would be disapproving, but I find that I cannot deny the Goblins this victory. They are one step closer to their goal. _

_In the lull following that battle, I have been attending Wizengamot meetings. My allies and I have been attempting to convince the others that it is in their best interest to concede to the Goblins. So far, they have turned blind eyes and deaf ears to my efforts. _

_They will agree soon enough. _

**_July 23, 1530 AD_**

_Azriel Longbottom and I have been working on a contract with Ragnok. We have been debating the stipulations of the Goblin race's desires and expectations. We are nearly finished and hope to present it to the Wizengamot soon enough. _

_I pray that they accept the terms. Goblins are vicious on the best of days. When they are provoked, they become ruthless. Accepting the terms means ending this madness. _

_Azriel suggests that we present the contract to the neutral Houses. If we convince them, we have the majority of the votes. Perhaps the other Lords will be more likely to follow their peers. _

**_August 12, 1530 AD_**

_Eliran Nott broke into Gringotts last night. His family fortune has been sealed by the Goblins, and so he attempted to liberate it. He succeeded in escaping with a small part of his family's assets before returning to his home in Hogsmeade. _

_Ragnok is furious, and has requested that I assist Gringotts in improving their defenses. I accepted, and the wizards have learned of this treachery. They forget that I do not answer to them, that they are not the kings of this world. _

**_August 15, 1530 AD_**

_The Goblins attacked Hogsmeade last night. Nott's house was targeted, and the resulting conflict was bloody. _

_Goblins and wizards alike entered Death's arms last night. _

_These battles are adding up slowly. Our world is going to war, and we cannot afford the conflict anymore. This fighting must end now. We have taken this argument too far. _

_Azriel and I will present the agreement tomorrow. I pray to Merlin that they accept these stipulations. I tire of conflict quickly, and I do not wish to see my kin or my allies meet their ends. _

_I stand by the Goblins still, though I pray it need not be for much longer, or our world will never recover. _

**_August 16, 1530 AD_**

_They have all agreed to the terms, thank Merlin. _

_I can see in their eyes that they are as tired of this as I; no doubt this is the only reason I was able to convince them so quickly. _

_We are not built for war. _

_Ragnok will send his son tomorrow. Griphook is to be the ambassador between the Goblin race and wizards. _

_A new law has been passed: creatures are now allowed to wield wands, should they so desire. I doubt many will, but it is the idea of it that matters. We fight for equality. This is the first step. _

**_January 1, 1531 AD_**

_I knew my family's involvement in Goblin Rebellion would have unforeseen consequences. Even our allies cannot help us with this. _

_No matter how long the Peverells have been around - and we are the oldest House, dating back to the last Pendragon - it seems as though people forget our influence. _

_Those who fought against the Goblins are calling for our heads. We make up half the population of wizarding Britain, but they are determined to rid the world of us. _

_Xia and I have consulted with Ragnok. He suggests that we leave the country for a decade or so, to allow things to calm down. He also suggests we change our family name, though the Goblins will always know who we are. _

_We have decided to stage the deaths of our family during one of our traditional celebrations. From there, we will make our getaway. Thank all the gods above that Great-Grandfather Iggy claimed so much land. _

_The world will never forget our name - will never forget our perceived betrayal - but by the time we return, they will have forgotten who we are. _

_We are the Peverells. We are the balance between family and duty. Statera Familia et Officium. _

**_February 1, 1531 AD_**

_We have made our escape. Today was Imbolc, and - as per tradition - the entire family gathered at the Manor. In the last minutes before midnight, we staged an explosion and fire appeared. It was all an illusion, of course. We would never do anything to destroy our ancestral home. _

_After all the drama, everyone made a swift getaway. We are now spread out all over the world, in the houses and pieces of land that Iggy and Ria obtained. _

_I do not expect to see my entire family for many years. _

_I wonder how the wizards will fare without our presence. _

**_March 17, 1541 AD_**

_It has been over a decade since I last saw the entire family. Even without their presence, we have grown. Xia and I have had more children, who are far younger than our other children. The oldest of our brood are now married with children of their own. _

_We have been forced to obtain more land due to a distinct lack of it. Our family grows quite rapidly, and the introduction of Muggle blood to the family has made the younger generations' magic even stronger. _

_We have all gathered together for the Spring Equinox, on Aonachd. It is a joy to see the family together again, and larger than ever. _

_We have plans to return to Britain within a fortnight, and so we must make preparations. _

**_March 20, 1541 AD_**

_As Head of House, I have determined that the first order of business is to change our name. I have chosen Potter; it is similar enough to our original name that we will not be confused when addressed, and it is chosen to show that we are beginning anew. We will build the future that we lost ten years ago. _

_Unfortunately, we will have to change our appearances; after all, the Peverell traits are highly distinctive. _

_Then, I will have to meet with the Goblins, to see if there is any way for us to regain the seats on the Wizengamot without revealing ourselves. _

**_March 31, 1541 AD_**

_Everything is sorted. We are now the Potter family, a relatively old - though not as old as the Peverells - family. We have wild black curls and golden eyes, a contrast from the strait locks and vaguely hazel eyes we sported as Peverells. With a little luck, we will be able to keep our identity secret. _

_Our new words are _et sanguinem officium _\- blood and duty. It is similar to the old, but different enough that few will make the connection we hide. Our new symbol is a phoenix which holds in its claws a bloody sword that cuts through a triangle and circle. Our rebirth, our blood, our duty, and a nod at our old family symbol. _

_To ensure that it remains so, I have made use of Iggy's Fidelius charm in a way it was not intended for. I am the secret keeper, and the secret I am keeping is that we are the Peverell family. We are all aware of it, but our enemies will not be. _

_The Goblins have assisted us in regaining our seats on the Wizengamot, and we have returned to the homes of our ancestors - nearly all of them are unplottable, and so no one will make the connection. _

_I am afraid to see what state the world is in. I pray that it has not crumbled in our absence._


	7. The Prophet

**February 2, 1531 AD**

Last night, the end of Imbolc, the Peverell family perished in an unfortunate explosion. The resulting fire burned Peverell Manor to the ground, and left nothing behind.

This reporter writes this to inform the general public that the Peverell family no longer control the world. As shown only months ago, the Peverell family was quite unbalanced. Instead of siding with their fellow Magicals, the Peverells sided with the Goblins in the Goblin Rebellion.

Those mischief makers fought against their kin so that creatures could have the right to wield wands. Given their significant political clout, the Peverells won the following skirmishes, both on the battlefield and off. They didn't even have the decency to cease fighting when the Goblins lined up the heads of fellow wizards on stakes.

What kind of people ignore the pleas for help that come from their fellow wizards in favor of a bunch of creatures?

This reporter has heard that the Head of the Peverell family, Kalen Peverell, has been named a Goblin Friend for his treachery against his people.

In any event, such titles no longer matter, now that those blights on society are dead and gone. Balance family and duty, indeed. Are Goblins more family than fellow wizards, or have the Peverells forgotten the meaning of their words?

**March 1, 1535 AD**

The sudden demise of the Peverell family four years ago was seen as a blessing at the time. Now, however, society seems to be crumbling around us. It is almost as though the Peverells brought balance to our world.

Something that no one considered immediately after the unfortunate end of the Peverells was how very large the family was. In fact, they made up more than half of the population of wizarding Britain, and many of them were the owners of the shops in Diagon Alley.

Not only were the Peverells the owners of the shops, but they were also a major part of our government, and they had the largest fortune of all the Houses. Their deaths caused our economy to crash rapidly, our government to waver, and our supplies to run short.

It seems the Peverells did more good than we thought, and that we were far more dependent on them than we originally believed. How will we recover from this loss? Will we ever recover from the Peverells' betrayal and following demise?

How long will our world continue to crumble?

**April 1, 1541 AD**

Yesterday, a new House joined our ranks. With their wild black curls and rich golden eyes, the Potter family is enthusiastically welcomed into our ranks. Their family words - _et sanguinem officium _(blood and duty) - bode well for their place in society.

Shockingly, they have been able to fill the seats that were abandoned a decade ago, and many of the shops in Diagon seem to be up and running once more.

The Potters seem to have a great deal of political clout for a family so new to Britain, and they seem to have quite a bit of gold. Already they have formed alliances with the Lovegoods and Longbottoms and several other old families, many of whom value gold and power.

The Potters must have both in plenty.

Things are looking up. Perhaps we will be able to recover from the devastating loss that occurred years ago.

This reporter looks forward to the changes that follow in the wake of this new family. We pray to Merlin that things will be better than they have been for the past ten years.


	8. Ralston Potter

**_January 1, 1612 AD_**

_An ongoing argument in the Wizengamot seems to be what to do about the Muggles._

_I ask, have they bothered us in recent memory? It is not as though they do not know we exist, for the current Monarch is well aware. It is, after all, in the agreement that dates back to the dawn of Hogwarts. So, given their knowledge of our presence, and their subsequent inaction, I say we should not feel threatened by them any more than they feel threatened by us. _

_We are living in relative peace, except when inane arguments are brought up time and time again, no matter how often we come to a conclusion - and each revisitation results in a different conclusion. _

_Well, soon we will run out of possible outcomes; already I grow tired of this debate. It my fellow Lords are not careful, they may find themselves with a homicidal wizard on their hands. _

_And I will come backed by the Goblin race. _

**_February 4, 1612 AD_**

_Aisling told me today that Elijah spoke to her in Parseltongue. Given Aisling's family, I am not surprised; Gaunts have been Parselmouths for centuries. _

_Now that I know my son is a Parselmouth, I will be on the lookout for snake parts for his wand, though I do not have to worry about that for several more years. I will however put some effort into finding books about Parselmagic, and possibly a familiar for him; if the creature I find remains unhatched, I will store it and the books in his trust vault until he is older._

**_March 1, 1612 AD_**

_We had another Wizengamot meeting today. The topic of interest was once again about the Muggles. _

_I understand their worries; I do. We have all heard the horror stories about the witch burnings, and while I certainly do not condone burning our people, I would like to point out that many of these confrontations and subsequent burnings have occurred because wixen were performing magic in front of the Muggles. _

_There are two problems with this; first is that when the Founders first negotiated with the King, he requested that we not demonstrate our magic for Muggles. Second is that, like everything in this world, Muggles fear what they do not understand. Magic is something that they do not understand, so they fear it, and - like all things - they react to their fear with violence. _

_Again, I do not condone their reactions, but I understand where they are coming from. In this situation, we are the ones in the wrong just as much as they are. _

_I do not know why the others cannot understand this. _

**_April 1, 1612 AD_**

_Yet another Wizengamot meeting. Some of the Lords have suggested war against the Muggles. I suggested that they were idiots. They did not appreciate my suggestion. _

_I also suggested avoidance; perhaps we should hide our world from them, with the only link between our worlds being the Muggle king. This way we will be protected from the violence of the Muggles' fear, and they will be protected from their lack of knowledge. _

_This, too, was shot down, though some of the Lords appeared to be interested in the concept. For once, I hope to revisit this topic; we can protect the world like this. _

**_May 1, 1612 AD_**

_What if we could separate our world from the Muggles. There would be bridges in certain areas, of course, so that we could come and go between the worlds, but the separation would protect us from each other. It would protect us from ourselves. _

_I plan to further develop this concept before introducing it to the Wizengamot. I only fear that I will not be fast enough to dissuade the Lords from declaring war on the Muggles. _

_They can capture us and take us down with fire. What will they be able to do with actual weapons? War is not a sensible course of action - we will not come out on top if it ever comes to such a conflict. _

**_May 20, 1612 AD_**

_I have made plans to meet with the Goblins and the Veela to discuss possible methods of separation. Ragnok suggested that I invite the Centaurs to the meeting as well, and they agreed. _

_The meeting is set for tomorrow, and I hope to make progress in my plan. If all goes well, I will request an audience with Nicolas Flamel, who has been living in an in-between state for centuries. Somehow, the Muggles suspect nothing despite his seemingly eternal presence amongst them. _

_If I am able to conceive a viable plan to protect Muggles and wizards from each other, I will request a meeting with the Muggle king, so that I may introduce him to the idea. With his agreement, I will introduce it to the Wizengamot. _

**_May 21, 1612 AD_**

_Ragnok and I met the Veela queen and one of the Centaurs of the Forest at Gringotts. I outlined the vague hopes I had for the future, and together we brainstormed spells and wards and enchantments that might create such a veil. _

_The queen - Amalina - encouraged me to choose points for the bridges between the Muggle and magical worlds, where Muggle-borns might enter and exit. _

_I have chosen a pub that sits in the shadows of a London street. With the right wards, it will only appear to those with magic. This will be the first entry point; entering the pub will not show any outward signs of magic, but exiting through the back will lead one to a brick wall. A certain combination will cause the wall to open into Diagon Alley, right in front of Gringotts. _

_The second entrance to the world is at the Battle Bridge over the River Fleet. Again, it pertains only to those with magic. If a witch or wizard were to cross the bridge, they would find themselves admiring a ship that sets sail for Hogwarts on the first of September. _

_If a Muggle were to cross the bridge, they would simply make it to the other side of the river without any complications. _

_In essence, our world is to become a sort of pocket world; there are two points of entry, but only certain people will be able to enter. The others will simply pass by, remaining none the wiser. We will be a world within a world; we will be untouchable by the Muggles unless we bring magic into the Muggle world. _

_As a pocket world, we will be unable to meddle in Muggle affairs unintentionally, and we will be protected from each other without the threat of war. _

_The Centaur - Magorian - seemed pleased with my suggestions, and suggested that the bricks of the wall into Diagon be individually Enchanted, just as the stones of Hogwarts are. Centaurs are cryptic as a rule, so I am uncertain as to why such a thing might be advisable, but it would be the height of stupidity to turn down the free advice of a Centaur. It would be especially idiotic to refuse the advice of a Centaur as old as Magorian - whether it was free or not. _

**_August 3, 1612 AD_**

_I finally met with Nicolas Flamel today. His time is in high demand, and I am not as well known nor as intelligent as some of his other acquaintances, so I am glad that he was able to find the time to include me in his schedule. _

_I discussed the plans I have developed with the help of Ragnok, Amalina and Magorian with Nicolas, and he went over them in silence for a few moments. He offered several suggestions, pointing out that I had not taken the Muggle world's ever changing nature into account. He told me that it was likely that the bridge would change at some point in the future, and that the streets would grow and develop with the world they house. _

_The wizarding world may change at cripplingly slow rates, but the Muggle world is always changing. They constantly experience metamorphosis, as though they are constantly a caterpillar becoming a butterfly in a never-ending cycle, each time becoming more exotic and advanced and beautiful than before. _

_In contrast, the wizarding world is like an earthworm. It seems as though we never really change. We remain fixated on the same things for centuries, and whenever something is removed from our minds, it is replaced seamlessly by something else, as if it were never gone at all. We regrow and regenerate, but we never move forward. We remain stuck in the ground, and the Muggles fly away, leaving us in the dirt that we refuse to leave. _

_Nicolas offered some helpful information that will allow the enchantments to shift in response to the changes of the Muggle world. It is something I had not considered, but I see the value. Imagine the Fleet being filled in to become a street. If the bridge were removed and the enchantment did not shift, it might result in a Muggle walking along a particular part of the street and suddenly finding themselves staring over a river that has supposedly been filled in. _

_After all, a great deal of the spell-work that will create the pocket world where wixen live is illusionary. It is meant to show the Muggles what they expect to see, but it will not if it doesn't change when their world does. _

_Nicolas congratulated me on my diplomatic mind; he seemed pleased that I refuse to choose war as a viable option to deal with the Muggles. It is only common sense; there are more of them than there are of us, and though we have magic, Muggles have guns. If it came to war between our two races, the Muggles would surely win. _

**_January 1, 1613 AD_**

_These past months have been spent putting the final touches on the spell-work that makes up the barrier between our world and that of the Muggles. _

_Aisling has offered her assistance in the casting process. In some aspects, Parselmagic is more powerful than magic not influenced by the words of snakes. Enchanting and warding are two of the areas in which Parselmagic is more effective than it may be otherwise. _

_For one, the quality of the magic is more finely bound - the strands of it bound together in a way that does not fray easily. For another, Parselmagic is a rare branch of magic, and its obscurity lends to its effectiveness. There are few Parselmages, and so few have the ability to unravel the spells cast in Parseltongue. _

_With these final touches in place, I plan to request an audience with the king so that I may prevent war between our people. _

**_April 5, 1613 AD_**

_I presented my solution to the king today, and after much deliberation he agreed that it was a reasonable idea. He agreed to the two bridges, and expressed his desire that I make my plan work so that a war will not occur between our people._

_Despite my family history, despite the antagonistic traits that Potters are known for, I do not wish for war. Peace is a far more pleasant option, and if that means hiding from the world, I will make sure that we are erased from the minds of those who wish us gone. _

**_May 1, 1613 AD_**

_The Lords of the Wizengamot are absolute imbeciles. I have offered them a peaceful solution to the ever growing tensions. I have gained support from those Lords who recognize that the king's agreement is really his way of giving us an order. _

_The other Lords still desire war. Violence has stirred in their veins for too long, and they are unable to think past their desires. _

_They have agreed - begrudgingly - to consider my plan. We have designs to return to the issue at the next meeting. _

**_June 1, 1613 AD_**

_The Lords seem to have realised that their desires are of the utmost stupidity; they have agreed to my plan, and have agreed to implement it the day after tomorrow. _

_I am glad that they have finally seen sense, and that they have remembered who their loyalty is meant to belong to. _

_Merlin curse idiotic wizards. _

**_September 1, 1613 AD_**

_The barriers seem to be doing their job admirably. The new students - Muggle-born and half-blood and Pure-blood alike - have made their way to Diagon and Hogwarts without any difficulties. _

_Aside from the king and the parents of the Muggle-borns, the Muggles are blissfully unaware of the existence of magic. Of course, this excludes the cases that show up every now and again, involving wixen intentionally antagonizing Muggles after exposing magic to them. _

_Overall, though, the statue seems to be working. I wanted to call the plan the Pocket World, but the name was vetoed. Instead our separation is known as the Statue of Secrecy. _

_The name is no matter. The plan works, we have avoided all out war, and I can rightfully say that I was right. And none of the Lords can refute my claim. All is well. _

**_October 1, 1630 AD_**

_The Lords are never satisfied. They always manage to find something new to complain about. I realize that I am no better, though my complaints are kept to the privacy of these pages and the patient ear of my wife. _

_Today, the Lords tried to complain that Muggle-borns do not belong in our world. For once, they were actually prepared to argue their point, so I was willing to hear them out. _

_They spoke of the differences in culture - Muggles are heavily influenced by Christianity, while wixen are not. Muggles celebrate Christmas and Easter and the like, while wizards celebrate Celtic holidays. In general, the Muggle-borns and Muggle-raised disapprove of our culture, and because of their disapproval, the Lords have decided that they should not be a part of our world. _

_What they didn't mention is that there is not a class at Hogwarts that teaches about the importance of the Celtic rituals and holidays, and so those who do not grow up in the wizarding world are at a distinct disadvantage. And then, they are blamed for their lack of knowledge about what they consider to be pagan holidays. _

_True, they should not disparage our culture, even if they do not understand the importance of it. However, we should make an effort to include them in our culture. We should explain why we do what we do. We should explain our beliefs and how they are integral to our culture. _

_We need to explain that we are like a different country. We have different money than Muggles, we have magic, we have a different religion. We are different, and they need to be informed of that. They can't come into our world expecting it to be the same as their own. _

_They look around them and they see how different our two worlds are, but for some reason that doesn't translate to everything else. We need a class in Hogwarts about wizarding culture - frankly, the history class doesn't cut it because it doesn't touch upon wizarding culture - and we need a class about Muggles. Both should be mandatory if a student is unaware of the cultural differences between the two. The entire point of Hogwarts is to learn, and we are doing the children a disservice by denying them information. _

_The Lords tried to say that barring entrance to our world would solve this problem, but - thankfully I was not the unfortunate sod who had to point this out - part of our agreement with the British monarch is that Muggle-borns are educated in magic. It was Greengrass who suggested a Wizarding Culture class. I followed up his suggestion with a Muggle Studies class. I know it will be unpopular, but it is important to understand how Muggles live. _

**_November 1, 1630 AD_**

_Even though it is not our area of expertise, the Lords spent the entirety of the meeting discussing the finer points of the new curriculum. _

_I am uncertain why this task has been designated to us, as Hogwarts has a board of governors that was created to regulate its affairs. The Wizengamot has never interfered in Hogwarts, something that was stipulated by Slytherin when Hogwarts was founded. _

_However, the Lords have drawn up a proposal that Greengrass plans to present to the boards. Within it is a list of mandatory classes, and a list of electives that can be taken beginning in third year. _

_The mandatory classes are as follows: Potions, Transfigurations, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Flying, Herbology, History of Magic, and Wizarding Culture or Muggle Studies, depending on the background of the student. _

_The possible electives compiled are: Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Divination, Alchemy, Magical Theory, Xylomancy, Occlumency and Legilimency, Enchanting, Warding, Battle Magic, Parselmagic, Elemental Magic, Wandlore, Spell Creation, Magical Languages, Non-Magical Languages, Self-Defence, Healing, Time Theory, Weaponry, Art, and Music. _

_We have also written in a clause that will allow classes to be added in the future if such a thing becomes necessary. I believe that more classes will be added as the Muggle world advances, but any pushback from the wizarding community would prevent progress. We are unfortunately too different for everything to move smoothly, though I hope we can grow with the Muggles rather than being trapped in their past. _

**_March 12, 1652 AD_**

_I have grown tired of the endless debates of the Wizengamot. Each month, someone brings something new to the table, and it takes months of deliberation to solve the issue. _

_Many of these issues are no more than petty squabbles; the only points of any meaning involve the continued witch hunts, and even these are unimpressive. Wixen have become proficient in the flame freezing charm, as well as apparition. Of those who are caught performing magic, many are able to escape by creating a simulacra of themselves that burns in their place. _

_This wouldn't be a problem in the first place if they could just cease antagonising the Muggles. The Statue of Secrecy was created for a reason. _

_I know that I will only grow more frustrated by the Lords, and so I have stepped down from the Wizengamot; Elijah has been old enough to take my place for quite some time, and I have done all the good I can. They will not collapse without my presence._


	9. Henry Potter

**_August 31, 1913 AD_**

_Trouble is brewing amongst the Muggles, or so say the Lords of the Wizengamot. _

_I say that they do not know of what they speak, for I keep an eye on the Muggle world at all times. If trouble brews, my family will be the first to know of it. _

**_June 29, 1914 AD_**

_My cousin Absinthe lives in Austria-Hungary. She tells me that the Muggle Archduke was assassinated yesterday. Franz Ferdinand is dead at the hand of Gavrilo Princip. _

_It seems that the Lords of the Wizengamot were correct - nearly a year early. Tensions grow in the Muggle world. My family and I stand by to see what happens. Wars have been started over less than murder. _

**_July 24, 1914 AD_**

_Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia yesterday. _

**_August 1, 1914 AD_**

_Sides have been chosen. France, Russia and Britain stand against Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. _

_My family remains on standby. We will not risk fighting each other if we join the war effort; we must choose sides carefully. _

_Do we stand by our country, or do we stand by Austria-Hungary - the country that has been wronged, that has had its Archduke murdered? _

**_August 2, 1914 AD_**

_Germany declared war on Russia yesterday; the former demanded that Russia demobilise. Russia refused, and Germany felt the need to support Austria-Hungary. _

**_August 3, 1914 AD_**

_Yesterday, France showed its support for Russia. Full mobilisation has been ordered. _

**_August 4, 1914 AD_**

_Yesterday, Germany invaded Belgium and declared war on France. Britain declared war on Germany today under the obligations of the 1839 Treaty of London. _

**_December 1, 1914 AD_**

_The Ottoman Empire joined Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in the war. Their involvement has made this war touch nearly the entire world. Only the Americas seems to remain uninvolved. _

**_January 2, 1915 AD_**

_For all those who may be even remotely curious, Minister for Magic Archer Evermonde is an absolute cunt. He has forbidden magical involvement in the war going on. The Muggles are self destructing and we cannot do anything about it. Not legally, at least. _

_Evermonde - in all his wisdom attempted to quote my own ancestor's words to me in an effort to convince me of his reasoning. _

_As if I do not know my own family! The nerve of that man; he took Ralston's words completely out of context. After all, around three centuries ago, wizards wanted to attack the Muggles, not assist them. The situation is not the same now. I want to assist the Muggles. I want to give them the means to defend themselves from their own kin, as well as from Grindelwald, who we know is out and about in the Muggle world any time he pleases. _

_But that absolute imbecile tried to tell me that the Statue of Secrecy is in place because we are not meant to be involved in Muggle affairs; after all, why should we assist those weaker than us. If they are meant to survive, they will survive without our interference. _

_It appears that our esteemed Minister has not been doing his homework. Muggles do not have magic, this much is certain, but they have weapons of mass destruction that are even more effective than our Exploding Charm or the Killing Curse. They are far stronger than we are, for they are open to advancement. We are stuck in a world that mirrors the one of one hundred years ago - perhaps more. _

_Evermonde seems to forget that Muggles are very good at waging war. He forgets that they are also very good at coming out of it alive. _

**_December 31, 1915 AD_**

_Serbia has been defeated. The war wages on. This war is no longer about the Archduke's death; people are picking sides because they have been stewing for conflict for far too long. Peace cannot last forever. _

**_June 2, 1916 AD_**

_We have put off our entrance into the war long enough. House Potter will join the war effort to assist Britain and its allies. _

_The Wizengamot is unaware of our future involvement, and it must remain so. _

_Some of our own allies have noticed the tension between myself and the other Lords. Lords Weasley, Lovegood, and Longbottom have elected to join our cause. _

_The Lords of the Wizengamot may not acknowledge the fact that we are citizens of Britain and follow the laws and demands of her monarch, but I have not forgotten. My family will fight for our country, in whatever capacity we are able. _

**_September 13, 1916 AD_**

_I have discovered that it is possible to create illusions that are powerful enough to hide the fact that our guns are wands and our bullets are spells. _

_We have also been able to disguise dragons as fighter planes. _

_Our assistance in this war requires a great deal of magic, but I do not regret it. I will not regret fighting for my country. _

_We have it easier than most, for we can heal wounds and clean blood and dirt from our bodies. We have a greater chance of survival, for we can Disapparate if need be. _

_We are just as likely to fall to bullets, though. _

**_November 11, 1916 AD_**

_There was a Wizengamot meeting today. It has become difficult to journey between these two worlds. _

_One is filled with the sights and sounds and smells of war. The other is cold and pristine and removed. _

_I find myself preferring aspects of the Muggle world over the one in which I was born. I find myself preferring the fight for life over the verbal sparring that occurs in the Wizengamot. _

_I have discovered that the Muggles are more advanced than we are. I am in awe of them; they suffer more than we do - they suffer sickness and disease, they suffer famine and starvation and homelessness. And yet they never give up. Whenever they are in need of something, they create it. They do not rely on magic as we do, and because of this lack of reliance - because of this lack of entitlement - they are not stuck in time. They move forward in a way that we do not. _

_They have changed over the years, and we have remained stationary. They pass us by time and time again, and we think we are superior. _

_I heard Evermonde say that we are superior because we do not fight wars amongst ourselves. It is almost as if he is blind to our history. It is almost as if he is blind to our present. _

_We are human in the same way the Muggles are. The only difference is that we have magic in our veins, we have magic running through every part of us. And yet we are still human. We are still imperfect. We still fight against ourselves over stupid things. _

_We are no better than the Muggles. I might even say that we are worse than them - they, at least, seem to learn from their mistakes. We just bury them and live over them and make the same damn mistakes over and over again. _

_Tell me again how we are better than them?_

**_April 7, 1917 AD_**

_Just yesterday, the United States declared war on Germany. _

_It has been a long time coming; their President has been trying to join for years, and their supply ships have been sabotaged by the Germans. The final straw was Germany's attempt to initiate war between Mexico and America - likely so that the States would be occupied and unable to assist Britain and France as it has been until this point. _

**_April 1, 1918 AD_**

_Russia has dropped out of the war due to internal conflict._

**_November 11, 1918 AD_**

_The war ended today. An armistice was signed leaving Britain and its allies the victors. _

**_February 3, 1919 AD_**

_Somehow, the Minister discovered my involvement in the war. _

_I did not deny it. I am proud of what I have done. I will never not fight for my country - be it the Muggle side of it or the magic side of it. I pray the two never go to war; I believe I would find myself on the side of the Muggles and I do not wish to fight my friends. _

_Evermonde was furious. After all, I disregarded his decision to stay out of the war. I refuse to apologize to the self-righteous fool. I have learned much from my involvement in the war. I am still alive, and King George V learned of my involvement. He created a dukedom for House Potter. I am now Duke Potter in the Muggle world. If I have a son in the future, my titles will be passed down to him when I die. _

_Lords Longbottom, Lovegood and Weasley have been made Marquesses. _

_Perhaps Evermonde is upset that he did not get involved and is not being appreciated. He is the type who would be bitter over missed opportunities. _

_Evermonde has decided not to share the information of my involvement in the war. He has not learned of the involvement of my allies, and I hope to keep it this way. I would not have them exposed to his wrath._

**_February 5, 1919 AD_**

_Evermonde awarded himself an Order of Merlin, First Class. He claimed that it was in recognition of his great efforts - and subsequent success - in keeping magicals out of the Muggle war. _

_I applauded politely during the ceremony before escaping to the privacy of my office to laugh hysterically. _

_I will not call him out on his lies; not in public, at least. But I will never turn down the opportunity to remind him of his failure. There is nothing he can do to me or my family without appearing suspicious. _

**_June 12, 1919 AD_**

_I recently went to visit a good friend from the war named Diana. She disguised herself as a man and fought for Britain; she is intelligent and brave and loyal. She is also very beautiful. She is not a witch, but I believe that she has some sort of innate magic - she passed as a man for years without anyone knowing, and she looks nothing like a man. _

_We met in Muggle London, and just wandered the streets. They are making good progress with the clean up of the city. I mentioned to Diana that I might come to help the effort, and she looked at me with an expression I cannot identify. I have been thinking about it all day. _

_We have made plans to meet on Monday to help with the clean up. I quite look forward to seeing her again. I also look forward to helping clean up, and not only because I know it will irritate Evermore. _

_This country is my home. These people are my family. Potters protect their own. _

**_June 16 , 1919 AD_**

_Diana and I met to help with the clean up today. It was hard work, and I saw firsthand how many people have been affected by this war. So many people are without homes and food as a result of the Germans' night raids. _

_I will not leave these people to suffer. _

**_June 20, 1919 AD_**

_I requested and received an audience with King George. I told him of the family Manor; it is sizeable, with a fair amount of land. The Manor itself has several rooms available given that none of the family really makes use of it. _

_I offered the Manor and its lands as a place for those in need. The people who have lost their homes in the raids are welcome, and they may build on the land as required. It would likely be a temporary situation, but these people need somewhere to stay while the city is being rebuilt. _

_The King jumped at my offer, especially when I assured him that housing people would have no adverse affects on my family. They will begin arriving next week, which gives me some time to remove the magical artifacts from the grounds. I don't want to harm the Muggles. _

**_July 13, 1919 AD_**

_The Muggles have settled into the Manor. About half of them commute to London for work, a quarter return every day to help clean up and rebuild. The remaining Muggles stay at the Manor and help out there. They cook and clean and care for the land. It is impressive how well they work together, given that many of them are strangers. _

_I am considering offering to pay those who work the lands and cook and clean and the like. I doubt they will reject my offer. And perhaps if this works out well, we can build some guest houses on the land. That way they wouldn't be living on top of each other, but they would have a place to stay and a job. Such an arrangement would also allow my family use of the Manor should they desire it. _

_I would like to form a good relationship with non-magicals; I am already on my way, but that is more a working relationship, and I believe I would like it to be more of a personal relationship. _

**_August 12, 1919 AD_**

_Diana has invited me to meet her family today. I accepted; she speaks highly of them, and said that they would like to meet me. _

**_August 15, 1919 AD_**

_Diana is King George's daughter. I didn't even have an inkling, and the King seemed surprised that I was the man Diana was bringing to meet him. _

_Diana introduced me to her sister, Mary, as well as her brothers and her Mother. They are all very elegant and polite, something I am not unused to, given my own upbringing. I believe they found me interesting, at least. _

_I hope to build good relationships with them; I quite like Diana. I hope to court her some day. _

**_September 11, 1919 AD_**

_Today, I requested permission to court Diana. The King accepted my offer, so I asked Diana if she would have any interest in courting me. She said she would be interested, and so I have started planning for the first date, which we have agreed will occur on the fourteenth. _

_Diana's eldest brother - Edward - will oversee our courtship, to ensure that we follow the rules. _

_At some point, I will have to talk to King George to ascertain when it would be best to inform Diana about magic, and about the fact that my family is magical. _

**_September 14, 1919 AD_**

_I arrived at the palace to escort Diana to the venue I chose. Edward followed behind us and kept a close eye on us the entire time. _

_I believe that the date went well. I plan to write Diana tomorrow to request a second date. If she accepts, I will send her the location and date I have in mind, as well as a token of my affection. _

**_September 20, 1919 AD_**

_This evening, Diana and I went on our second courtship date. When I arrived to pick her up, she was wearing the ring I sent her. _

_I'm going to marry this girl, if she accepts. _

**_October 1, 1919 AD_**

_I told Diana about magic. Growing up in her family, she was aware to a certain extent, due to the requirement that the King know about our world. _

_Diana was irritated that I hadn't told her sooner, but claims that she understands. _

_As an apology - and because I want to spoil the woman I love - I sent her hair pins, a ruby bracelet, and ruby earrings. _

_We had another date this evening, and she wore my gifts; she looked stunning in them. This time, our date was in the wizarding world. We laughed together about how backwards it is, but she admitted she liked the feel of it. _

_I admit, the almost ancient feel of it is pleasant, but it can be stiff at times. I also much prefer Muggle clothing over the robes of my own culture. I have almost entirely stopped wearing the suffocating things in favor of the lighter fabrics I found in London when I first met up with Diana. _

**_January 5, 1920 AD_**

_I hope to ask Diana to marry me soon. We have gone on several more dates in the past few months, and they have been both in the Muggle and magical worlds. I have showed Diana some of the Potter properties, and we travelled to several other countries for some of our dates. _

_Recently, I gifted Diana a dagger of silver and rubies. It is Goblin-Made, and I Enchanted it myself. She wears it at her hip, often over her Muggle dresses. I quite enjoy watching the reactions of my fellow magicals whenever we are seen together. _

_Diana has picked out some Muggle clothing for me, and I am quite fond of the tailored suits she has found. Many of my family members have turned to Muggle fashion instead of traditional wizarding robes. _

_Diana has given me advice on Muggle companies, and so I have invested in several; the Goblins have become ecstatic with my investments, though they are being cautious. Some of the countries around the world are struggling, and the Goblins don't want to lose money. _

**_February 14, 1920 AD_**

_I proposed to Diana yesterday, with the King's permission. She accepted, and has already begun planning things for the wedding. We are both unreasonably excited about spending money, but my father tells me that love does this to people. _

**_July 20, 1921 AD_**

_Diana and I are finally married. The ceremony was beautiful, and I think everyone present shed a few tears. _

_Only our families attended the wedding; my family alone is several hundred people, and inviting more would have been disastrous. _

_I am taking Di to the house in Athens for our honeymoon. She has never been, and Athens is a beautiful city. _

**_September 16, 1920 AD_**

_My father and mother died this month. Mother died last, and her final request was that I keep her family name alive. _

_I love my mother, I do, but I cannot bring myself to name my son Fleamont Potter. I will consider it for a middle name, but ultimately, Diana will get final say in the naming of our children. _

_I will miss my parents; I am glad I can rely on the rest of my family, so that I may have time to mourn. _

**_December 4, 1921 AD_**

_The Lords of the Wizengamot are yet again absolute imbeciles. _

_I wonder if they insult Muggles in front of me because they know it will infuriate me. _

_Cantankerous Nott compared Muggles to swine and I nearly cursed his bloodline. He seems to forget that my wife is a Muggle; if he has not forgotten, then he misremembers what the wrath of a Potter is like, as well as our magical prowess. _

_I refuse to tolerate slurs against my family, my wife, or any Muggles, especially given my involvement with them. It would be hypocritical of me to do so. _

_Evermonde tried to convince me to step down from the Wizengamot, citing that I almost lost control of myself. I refused and told him that I was completely in control, and that Nott should learn to control his mouth before I control it for him. _

_Evermonde departed with a sort of false swagger in his steps, and the Lords all looked at me oddly - not including Weasley, Longbottom and Lovegood, of course. I wonder if the Lords who are not allied or family are afraid of me. _

_Is it wrong that I hope they are? _

**_June 5, 1927 AD_**

_Diana gave birth to our first child this morning. She named him Charlus Henry Potter, saying that she would never curse a child with the name Fleamont. I have to agree, and what Mother will never know won't hurt her. _

_Charlus has ridiculously powerful magic, as evidenced when we arrived home from the hospital. As soon as Diana walked through the door and the wards washed over him, Charlus screamed and one of the ebony trees uprooted itself and planted itself outside the nursery window. _

_I will be surprised if the wood of his wand is anything other than ebony. _

_I am very glad he waited to uproot trees - explaining that at a Muggle hospital would have been difficult, given that there has been no wind today. _

_Charlus' magic is stronger than the average Potter's, and we are stronger than the other Houses. I wonder if the fact that we often marry out of the country and Di's blood that have something to do with it. _


	10. The Pure-Blood Directory

The history of the Wizarding World is long and rife with conflict. Much of the conflict stems from blood purity. Over the centuries, categories have been developed, which mark blood purity. The categories are Pure-bloods - wixen with four magical grandparents - Muggle-borns - wixen with two non-magical parents - and Half-blood, who are the wixen with any parentage in-between the two.

I have taken it upon myself to list the families with Pure blood. They are as follows:

Abbott, Avery, Black, Bulstrode, Burke, Carrow, Crouch, Fawley, Flint, Gaunt, Greengrass, Lestrange, Longbottom, Macmillan, Malfoy, Nott, Ollivander, Parkinson, Prewett, Rosier, Rowle, Selwyn, Shacklebolt, Shafiq, Slughorn, Travers, Weasley, and Yaxley.

Many of these families have claimed seats in the House of Lords on the Wizengamot. There are only twenty-four Houses represented on the Wizengamot, which include Houses Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Black, Nott, Potter, Weasley, Bulstrode, Brown, Carrow, Cornfoot, Crabbe, Flint, Greengrass, Harper, Higgs, Lestrange, Longbottom, Lovegood, Malfoy, Prince, Shacklebolt and Pucey.

One might notice that several of the Houses on the Wizengamot are not listed among the Sacred Twenty-Eight and vice versa. The reason for this is that - simply put - these Houses are not of Pure blood. The seats on the Wizengamot are hereditary and - unfortunately - have nothing to do with blood purity.

As an example, House Potter was considered Pure-blooded until very recently; a few years ago, they showed their true colors, and fought for Muggles, as well as marrying one. It is quite clear that House Potter is not one of the many Houses that values the gifts they have been given. It must be said, though, that it was not a Muggle-born who married into the family - that would be disgraceful. After all, everyone knows that Muggle-borns steal magic from deserving Pure-bloods, and that they are uncouth beasts who don't understand our culture.

House Potter's allegiances are not surprising, as they have a history of fighting for the Muggles. Ralston Potter is the one who trapped wixen into a pocket world so that we wouldn't harm the Muggles.

It is for reasons such as these that some of the Houses on the Wizengamot do not appear within the Sacred Twenty-Eight, even if they are old enough to be in good standing with the real Pure-bloods.


	11. Charlus Potter

**_June 5, 1938 AD_**

_Today I am eleven years old. My invitation to Hogwarts arrived during breakfast this morning, and Father allowed me to reply almost immediately. I cannot wait to finally see the castle, and I will be able to spend more time with my cousins. They travel quite a bit, and those who are older than me are already attending. _

_I hope I will be Sorted into Gryffindor, and I hope to make friends on the train. Or, perhaps I will meet someone in Diagon, while Mum and Father and I are shopping for school supplies. I hope they will let me pick out an owl. _

_I can't wait to finally get my wand from Ollivander. Father tells me that the process is an interesting experience, and I am quite excited. I wonder what wand will choose me. _

_We have plans to head to Diagon this afternoon. I will write more when I get back. No doubt many people will be in the Alley. Today is the first day letters go out, as long as the receiver is eleven years old. _

**_June 6, 1938 AD_**

_My wand is ebony with the tailfeather of a thunderbird, twelve inches and supple. Ollivander said that I'd be talented with Battle Magic. Father seemed unsurprised by this news. _

_I also got a tawny owl that I've named Helios for his golden coloring. _

_Yesterday, I met a boy in Twilfit and Tattings. I never realised how secluded our family is from all the rest, but the Blacks are a big family - though not nearly as large as the Potters - and they are very important. By all accounts, the Blacks are even older than the Potters, though we have more seats on the Wizengamot. But the boy I ran into yesterday was a Black. He introduced himself as Alphard Black, and promised that we would sit together on the train. _

_I never realised how secluded we are until I stood in front of this boy and it hit me that the only people I know are my family members. I'm sure that the Blacks and Potters are related somehow - it would be difficult to find a family who isn't related to anyone, no matter how distantly - so it is still impressive that I have never seen him before. _

**_September 1, 1938 AD_**

_Alphard kept his word. He found me on the train within the first few minutes of my arrival. Then, he invited me to sit with him and his cousins. There are more Blacks than Potters in our year, with Orion and Lucretia - they are less than a year apart, and Orion is the Heir of the family - as well as Cedrella and Dorea, and of course Alphard. They are all very kind, and when I mentioned that some of my cousins were starting this year, they invited them to their compartment. _

_Solomon, Cicily and Tatiana accepted, and though we have only known each other for a few hours, I believe we will be great friends. _

_A talking hat - it is rumored to be Godric Gryffindor's, though I don't know if I believe that - Sorted us. I got into Gryffindor along with my cousins. Alphard and Cedrella got Ravenclaw, the other three got Slytherin. _

_A Muggle-born was Sorted into Slytherin, as well, and everyone seemed shocked. His name is Tom Riddle. I think I would be worried if I hadn't met Orion and Lucretia and Dorea, but if they're in Slytherin, it can't be as bad as everyone says. Besides, there's nothing wrong with being cunning, is there? _

**_September 7, 1938 AD_**

_I have been to all my classes, and so far they seem interesting. Professor Dumbledore teaches Transfiguration, which I have with the Slytherins. Professor Merrythought teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is with the Ravenclaws. Professor Slughorn teaches Potions, where I see the Slytherins again, and I have Charms with the Hufflepuffs. My cousins and I have agreed to meet with the Blacks to study. _

_I think this will be a solid friendship. Rea, Tia, Rion, Alphie and Ella seem to enjoy our company. Sol has introduced Holland Longbottom, Jasper and Bilius Weasley, and Ignatius Prewett into our group, while Rion dragged Abraxas Malfoy along one day. He acted as though he didn't want to interact with us, that first day, but he quickly warmed up to our company. _

_Alphie has mentioned bringing Tyran Lovegood and Timothy Higgs to our study group tomorrow. From what I've seen of them in class, they are perfectly nice, and quite intelligent. From what little I know of politics, I believe that the Lovegoods and Longbottoms are allies of the Potters, as are the Weasleys. In any case, they all have seats on the Wizengamot. _

**_January 1, 1940 AD_**

_Riddle is behaving strangely. None of the Blacks have been able to connect with him, and even Xas says that the boy gives him the creeps. _

_He stalks through the halls with this sort of dark look in his eyes, and the glares and scowls he can twist his face into can be nerve-wracking. He is altogether unfriendly, maybe even hostile. _

_I have heard that he lives in an orphanage, and Father says that the Muggles are in the middle of a war right now. I wonder if it as bad as the terrors the Grindelwald brings to our world, or if it is worse. If it is worse, then perhaps Riddle has a reason for his hostility. It must be difficult, growing up exposed to violence, even if it only a fraction of what we experience. _

_His eyes say that what he has seen is worse than anything we have experienced, but his cold smile covers up his pain. The professors don't notice - even Dumbledore, who is considered very observant by other adults. But I get the feeling that his ignorance is intentional - he pays Riddle no mind, even when the boy is the first to complete a task in Transfigurations. _

_Riddle acts like he doesn't care, but his eyes - flat and dark and dangerous - say otherwise. He doesn't like being ignored, but he also doesn't like letting people in. As far as I can tell, he has no friends, and he has offered nothing more than his back to Xas' and Rion's offers. _

_I cannot honestly say I am disappointed. There is something about him… he is too perfect, like he is shattered glass that has been put back together with great effort, so that no one can see the sharp edges. _

_His birthday was yesterday, I heard. No one - not even he - mentioned it. _

**_July 1, 1940 AD_**

_The Muggles are in the middle of a war. _

_Mother and Father tell me that they fought in the great war together. They say that they are going to fight in this war, as well. _

_If I were to cross a boggart right now, it would show me the bloodied corpses of my parents. I cannot think about losing them to the Muggle war. _

**_October 15, 1941 AD_**

_Yesterday, Xas and Rion mentioned the Knights of Walpurgis during our study session. When I asked them about it, they said that Riddle had formed a little group of Purebloods - including Walburga Black, Nott, Lestrange, Carrow, Crabbe, Goyle, Fawley, Zabini, Flint, Macnair. _

_They couldn't say why Riddle suddenly attracted those Purebloods, just that he had, and the air in the Slytherin common room has become stale and heavy. _

_Riddle has grown these past years. He may be young, still, but he is dangerous. And he is angry at the world. He hates everyone and everything, including himself. I hope his power never grows; we cannot handle another Dark Lord, not with Grindelwald still causing ruin all over the world. _

_Despite his youth, Riddle has the power and the anger and the hatred to become a Dark Lord. And I already know whose agenda he would support - despite his blood, Riddle has a special hatred for all things Muggle. I think it is why he hates himself. _

**_December 31, 1943 AD_**

_Students have been turning up petrified for the past few months. They've been found in odd positions, and usually in bathrooms or near windows. The common theme found is that half-bloods and Muggle-borns are the only students being frozen in time. _

_Myrtle Warren disappeared today. Olive Hornby was mocking her - disparaging her blood and her looks and her magical talent - during DADA this morning. She disappeared after class, and no one saw her for hours. _

_Likely no one would have seen her for hours if Alphie hadn't told Merrythought that Myrtle was missing. The Professor spoke to Hornby and forced her to go and find Myrtle and apologize. Olive certainly found Myrtle. _

_Or, rather, she found her body - a mangled mess, with her abdomen severed open and some of her guts missing, according to the Mediwitch who inspected her. It was Myrtle's spirit - her ghost - that found Olive. _

_Apparently, Olive has been making Myrtle's life miserable since first year. Myrtle is returning the favor; she has made it her mission to drive Olive absolutely insane for her last years at Hogwarts. I can't say I blame her, really. _

_I passed Riddle on the way to the Great Hall this evening. We were to attend a mourning for Myrtle, and everyone was appropriately depressed. And if they weren't, they hid it well. But Riddle. There was something a little like victory lurking in his dark eyes, a certain twist to his mouth and a set to his features. _

_Riddle has something to do with Myrtle's death. I don't know what it is, but there's something missing from his expression that's been there since the first time I saw him. _

_He's not afraid anymore. I don't want to think about why. After all, Riddle's boggart is his own corpse. What does it say that he's not afraid anymore? What does Myrtle have to do with it? _

**_February 1, 1944 AD_**

_I sent Helios to Lord Arcturus Black last week, asking for permission to court Dorea. I received his reply this morning during breakfast, and I'm certain that my enthusiastic response to his permission was surprising - usually I am the perfect picture of Pureblood manners, despite being a halfblood; this morning, my upbringing was nowhere to be seen as I celebrated the permission I had been given. _

_I asked Dorea if I might court her after I got Lord Black's permission, and she agreed. We have plans to go to Hogsmeade together on the fourteenth of the month. _

_Our friends congratulated us on our courtship, and all of the Blacks, as well as Abraxas, threatened to castrate me if I dared to hurt Dorea. _

_I will never do anything to hurt her. I love her far too much, and I am man enough - Gryffindor enough - to admit it. _

**_May 2, 1944 AD_**

_Grindelwald returned to Britain. He attacked my family. For as long as he has been terrorizing the world, the Potter family has been dogging his footsteps, doing their best to prevent his plans. _

_We were in the way, perhaps his biggest obstacle. We were causing problems, and so he decided to remove his obstacle. _

_Yesterday was Beltane. Everyone knows that the Potters all join together to celebrate every holiday. And so it was yesterday. Nearly the entire family was at the Manor. My parents and I were out of the country, visiting the Veela, with whom we have an alliance. So we were not present for Beltane. The wards were being renewed, so they were unprotected. And Grindelwald attacked. _

_My entire family is dead. House Potter was once made up of hundreds of people. Now only three remain. My aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins are gone. Tatiana and Solomon and Cicily and all my little cousins are dead. They were too young. _

_They're all dead, and I feel numb inside. The bonds I held with each member of the family have snapped. I felt them burn to ash. The only reason madness has not taken me is because the Lord and Lady of House Potter - my father and mother - are not dead, too. If I were the last Potter, madness would surely descend upon my mind because of how much I have lost. _

_Damn Grindelwald to the pits of hell. I'll fight him and his followers myself. He will not win this war. I'll die before I live in a world where that vile wizard sits upon a throne and rules us. _

_I want to break something. I want to kill someone. _

**_May 5, 1944 AD_**

_I'll fucking kill Riddle for running his mouth like that. I'll kill him. My family did not deserve to die, and I'll duel anyone who says so. _

**_May 6, 1944 AD_**

_How do people handle this? I want to scream and cry and kill. I want to rip someone's face off or burn them alive. _

_I can't do this. _

_It hurts too much. _

_Why me? Why my family? What did we do wrong? What did we do wrong enough that warrants the death of the entire family? _

**_June 1, 1944 AD_**

_I find myself lost to the abyss. I am a wanderer. I travel through the darkest night. _

_The darkness is my friend; it hides my tears and muffles my screams. _

_The darkness is my enemy; it leeches away light and warmth and love. It is the stuff of my nightmares. It follows my footsteps, I cannot leave it behind. _

_I feel empty, devoid of life, of warmth, of emotion. _

_How will I survive this? _

**_June 21, 1944 AD_**

_Father, mother and I will send off their souls on the solstice. _

_There are not even any bodies to bury. They will be immortalized in cold, expressionless stone, just as every other member of our family has been. _

_Why has death taken my family from me? _

**_June 22, 1944 AD_**

_The Manor is gone, only charred dirt and splinters of wood and collapsed stone and ash stand where it used to be. I cannot bear to look at it. _

_No doubt mother and father will rebuild it when the dust settles. _

_At least the Muggle inhabiting the cottages below have not been harmed. They were visiting their families or working while my family celebrated Beltane, and their cottages were left alone - no doubt father had some sort of ward that hid them from wizards - the backlash we would receive if people knew we housed Muggles would be terrible. _

_I do not want to begrudge them their survival, but I cannot help it. My family is dead, and it's no one's fault but Grindelwald's. _

_It's difficult not to consider what-ifs, though. _

**_June 23, 1944 AD_**

_I am not strong enough to handle this. We have spent all day carving memories into the stone that walls in the grounds of the Manor. _

_Our family will protect us when they could not protect themselves. _

_We have sent the dead into the arms of our ancestors. I pray to Merlin that they find their way to Elysium._

**_July 1, 1945 AD_**

_The seventh year of Hogwarts is finally finished. Dorea and I are engaged to be married. We plan to bond next month. Her family will be present, as will the broken remains of mine. _

_We used to be the largest House in Britain - possibly in the world - with the magical strength and political power and money to match. I cannot seem to recover from my family's demise, though I no longer feel numb at the mention. _

_Some days it hurts to breath. Some days it hurts to live. Some days, I wish I could join my family; surely death is less painful to deal with than loss - especially loss on this scale. _

_Rea makes it better. It hurts less to live when she is around. I can love when she is by my side. I can breath._

**_July 5, 1945 AD_**

_Dorea and I have decided to join the fight against Grindelwald. _

**_July 17, 1945 AD_**

_Orion has gone through an abrupt change. Just yesterday, he married his second cousin - Walburga - who he has always despised. _

_I suspect she slipped him a love potion to trap him in marriage - I can only hope they don't consummate the marriage. Orion will be miserable for the rest of his life if he is trapped in marriage with Walburga because they consummated it. _

_If there is any mercy in the world, please prevent the consummation. _

**_July 18, 1945 AD_**

_There is no mercy in the world. Orion's marriage is binding, and he will never escape Walburga. _

_She did indeed give him a love potion, and now that she has gotten her heart's desire, she has stopped giving it to him; Orion is now completely and utterly devastated by his circumstances. He told me that he feels violated. _

_I want to tear that vile bitch apart. _

**_July 31, 1945 AD_**

_Dorea and I are now married. I feel happy for the first time in months. We have plans to stay in the house in Athens for our honeymoon, and then we will join the fight against Grindelwald. _

**_September 3, 1945 AD_**

_The second Muggle war ended yesterday. From what I hear, they have spent the day rejoicing. _

_I want to be happy for them. _

_Grindelwald is back to his old games, and his cruelty is like never before. The end of the war has concerned him, I think. I am glad of it. _

**_November 27, 1945 AD_**

_Grindelwald has finally been defeated. Dumbledore took him down, but not before I managed to curse the wretch. _

_One of the more terrifying spells the Potters have developed locks one's magic. It is in no way accessible to anyone not of Potter blood - not even spouses. I used it against Grindelwald. The look on his face when he realized that he had had his magic locked up was priceless. This is what he deserves, and I cannot find myself pitying him. Dumbledore insisted that Grindelwald be kept alive. _

_After what that monster did to my family, I will never forgive Dumbledore for his choices. Grindelwald deserves to be six feet under, but he is locked away from the rest of the world; there is nothing I can do about his fate now. _

**_January 13, 1946 AD_**

_We have discovered something about the magic of wands. My family's wands did not burn with them. Instead, as hope disappeared and the burning began, the wands relocated themselves. The family vault is now hundreds of wand boxes fuller than it was before their demise. _

**_March 21, 1947 AD_**

_Dorea has convinced father and mother and I that it is time to move on. She suggested we begin by rebuilding the Manor, and so we have drawn up plans for it. _

_We have decided to rebuild the Manor so that it does not resemble itself as it used to be. _

_It more resembles a castle. It is massive - excessively so - and each of the four sides is different from the others, though they are different in a way that adds to the beauty. Mother and father have also added a guest house onto the lands, though I do not know their reasoning; our family is no longer large enough for such extravagances to be necessary. _

_All in all, the plans for the Manor are lovely, and I find myself excited to build and protect it. Everything about it will be better than it was, and it will be protected by the dead, who form a wall around the land. _

**_February 29, 1948 AD_**

_My family took it upon themselves to build the new Manor. The Goblins offered their assistance, especially with the warding. _

_Today, we finally finished the building process. The Manor is just as beautiful as I imagined, and with the wall around it, it seems impenetrable. Father and I have begun the warding process, and with the assistance of the Goblins, our wards are perhaps the most advanced this world has ever seen. _

_We will be finished warding by this evening, and tomorrow we will place the Unplottable spell upon the Manor and it's lands. We will not risk the destruction of our ancestral home again; we will not even risk the notion of it - only my family and the Goblins are aware of its existence. Even the Blacks are not entirely aware of it, though I intend to tell my friends at some point. _

_I hope that they will celebrate the rebirth of this home with us. _

**_May 1, 1948 AD_**

_Dorea and I have been struggling to conceive. If we cannot, I will blood adopt a child; our family will not die out with me. _

**_November 3, 1959 AD_**

_Walburga has given birth to a son. The boy is named Sirius Orion, and Orion has asked that I be his Godfather, and Dorea his Godmother. We have accepted. Orion is Godfather to Abraxas' boy, who was born a few years ago. _

_Dorea is pregnant, and it is especially delicate. She has been sick a great deal lately. I worry for her health. _

**_March 27, 1960 AD_**

_Dorea gave birth today. James Charlus Potter is now the heir to our family. Alphie and Lucretia are his Godparents. Our friends visited the Manor today to congratulate us. _

_I have never been so happy in my life. _

**_June 13, 1965 AD_**

_My father has contracted Dragon Pox. A Healer from Saint Mungo's arrived today to bring him to a sterile ward. _

_Mother is getting old, especially for a Muggle. The stress of father's condition may prove to be too much for her delicate state. _

_I do not know if I will be able to handle their deaths. _

**_September 13, 1965 AD_**

_Mother and father have passed away. I can only thank Merlin that the bonds between our family are so fragile that I did not feel them die. I do not think I could have survived it. _

_I have buried their ashes under one of the ebony trees lining the property. Their names have joined the rest of the family's on the wall. _

**_March 7, 1967 AD_**

_Dorea has been making fun of my hair since the day we met. I have spent the past few years trying to figure out a way to tame it, but it seems as though very few things work. I finally figured out the right combination of ingredients to make a hair potion for untameable hair. _

_I have gone to the Goblins with my invention; they will help me get the best price for the stuff. I have named it Sleakeazy's Hair Potion. I think the name is self explanatory. _

_Perhaps one day I will be able to make a version of it available to Muggles, though the manufacturer would have to be a wizard or a squib or the like, so that I don't completely expose us while trying to make money._

**_September 1, 1971 AD_**

_Today, James goes to Hogwarts. Dorea and I saw him off on the train. He seemed quite excited. Every magical child looks forward to Hogwarts, and James is no different. He and Sirius will no doubt be the best of friends. I pity their Professors - those boys are trouble. _

_I hope that all goes well, though I expect I will be hearing from Minerva soon enough. James is bound to cause chaos; it is only a matter of when, and if he will get caught. _

_I know at some point he will pull out the invisibility cloak. I wonder if I will regret giving it to him._


	12. James Potter

**_September 1, 1971 AD_**

_Sirius found a compartment before I even got to the platform. There were two boys there already; one has sandy hair and scars, while the other has watery blue eyes and is on the shorter side. They introduced themselves as Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. I like them. They're shy, but Remus is super smart, and Peter has a wicked sense of humor. We're going to be best friends. I can see it already. _

_Sirius and I went to visit Narcissa and Andromeda, and they chatted with us for a while. Cissa and Andy are really the only Blacks other than Reggie, Uncle Orion, and Uncle Alphie that I really like. The others - besides Lord Black and his Lady - are very uptight and just generally lack a sense of humor. _

_On our way back to our compartment, we ran into a scrawny boy with black hair and a girl with red hair - not Weasley or Prewett red, either. Her hair is the color of the wine that Mum and Dad drink with dinner, the really rich stuff. She has gorgeous hair. And her eyes are really, really green, like emeralds or peridot. _

_Unfortunately, she's friends with the boy, who is an absolute git. His name is Snape, and he was really rude about Sirius' family, and wouldn't let the girl - Lily - talk to us. She probably wouldn't have said anything even if he did let us talk to her, she did her best to ignore us after Snape mentioned Sirius' family. _

_He's not even like them. His branch of the Black family is less blood conscious than the others, except his mother. Besides, my Mum was a Black and she doesn't care about blood. She and Dad are friends with the Weasleys, and they're considered blood traitors by some of the other Houses. _

_Snape doesn't know what he's talking about. _

**_September 2, 1971 AD_**

_I got into Gryffindor, as did Remus and Peter and Sirius. Sirius was a surprise, and it took a minute for people to start clapping. Blacks are never in Gryffindor. No one remembers the last time a Black made it into any House other than Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Lily Evans also got into Gryffindor, but her friend Snape is in Slytherin. _

_Siri is worried what his Mum will say when she finds out he's not in Slytherin. I don't blame him; Walburga Black is a terrifying woman, and very set in her prejudices. _

**_September 5, 1971 AD_**

_Classes have been interesting so far. Sirius and I both have talent in Transfigurations and Potions. Remus is good at Defense, and Peter. I suppose Peter has some talent in Herbology. _

_Father told me that I would have a Muggle Studies class, since I grew up in the wizarding world. He says that he did, and that Muggle-borns were expected to take a Wizarding Culture class, so that our worlds would not be so massively separated. I do not have a Muggle Studies class, and I asked Evans, who said that she didn't have a Wizarding Culture course. _

_I asked Father about it, and he plans to bring it up at the next Wizengamot meeting. _

_Father and Mother asked if they would be hearing about any pranks; I haven't thought of doing one yet, as I am still settling in, but I brought it up to Sirius, and he seems enthusiastic. It will boost his mood, I think. His Mother still hasn't written him, and I know he is dreading what she will say about his Sorting. _

_Uncle Orion and cousin Reggie wrote Siri a letter saying that they were proud of him for being his own man. I don't know how Uncle Orion ended up with Walburga, but he deserves better than Sirius' shrew of a Mother. _

_I have only mentioned my opinion to Mother and Father because I don't want Siri thinking that I wish he hadn't been born. Walburga has done terrible things to his self-esteem. He's good at hiding it, but I know him; he craves her approval, even though he never gets it. _

**_September 7, 1971 AD_**

_Walburga sent mail today. _

_It was a howler, and as soon as Sirius saw it, he grabbed the thing and bolted from the Great Hall. Everyone in the Hall could hear it go off. Walburga has an impressive set of lungs, and she does not shy away from sharing her opinions with everyone in earshot - or out of it. _

_Now everyone knows that Sirius' Mother doesn't approve of his placement in Gryffindor. Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa seemed shocked, while the other Slytherins seemed to take some enjoyment from the scene. Snape looked happy that Walburga was mad at Siri. _

_Mum may have been a Slytherin, but these ones suck. I won't let them make fun of Sirius. Father says that Potters are irrationally overprotective at times, especially when family is threatened. Sirius is family, and if he ever feels threatened, I'll help him. _

_Remus was sick the other night. He still doesn't look fully recovered, but he's back in classes today. _

**_September 8, 1971 AD_**

_Snape has been running his scuzzy little mouth all day. He is having way too much fun gloating over Sirius' misery. I don't know what Evans sees in the slimy git, but she told McGonagall when I hexed Snape for mocking Sirius. He's going to regret his words someday. _

_On another note, Bella and Andy and Cissa cornered Sirius and me in the corridor on the way to Potions today. They told him that Walburga was a prejudiced bitch, and that Siri shouldn't pay her any mind. They were furious when they heard about what Snape was saying, and promised to deal with him. _

_Besides Siri and Reggie and Uncle Orion, Bella and Andy and Cissy are my favorite Blacks. Mum doesn't count because she's a Potter now. _

**_September 20, 1971 AD_**

_Snape still brings up Walburga's disappointment whenever he can fit it into a conversation. He won't shut himself up, so I jinxed him. He didn't appreciate having his tongue locked to the roof of his mouth, so hopefully he'll shut up about Walburga. _

_Evans wasn't happy about my retaliation, but I don't care. If she wants to side with Snape then I don't want to talk to her. _

**_October 5, 1971 AD_**

_Remus was sick again yesterday. He's still in the Hospital Wing today, and looks terrible. I brought him some chocolate and a book on magical creatures so that he's not entirely bored all day. _

**_October 12, 1971 AD_**

_Father has written me to tell me to keep an eye out. Voldemort - a wizard who was introduced to the world nearly a decade ago - has been holding secret meetings. No one really knows what's going on in them, but Father says that some of the Lords in the Wizengamot have begun spouting Pure-blood propaganda like never before. _

_I wonder what Lord Voldemort's goals are. I wonder if that's even a real name - it sounds fake. Walburga insisted that Sirius learn another language when he was younger, and he tells me that Voldemort means flight from death in French. Whether his translation is accurate or not, I don't know, but if it is, then Lord Voldemort is definitely not his real name. _

**_December 3, 1971 AD_**

_Remy was sick again last night. Come to think of it, he was sick last month, too. I wonder if he gets sick every month. I wonder why. _

_Snape has finally dropped the topic of Walburga. Instead, he has moved on to making fun of how I'm not even a "real" Pure-blood. I'm not sure why he cares, since he's a Half-blood himself. Besides, who cares how many magical grandparents I've got? At least I have friends. Snape only has Evans, and even she gets irritated with him at times. _

_He never mentions blood purity around her. _

**_December 7, 1971 AD_**

_Mother and Father have invited my friends and their friends to stay with us for Yule. I look forward to seeing everyone. Remus has accepted - I didn't think he would, but I'm glad he did. _

**_December 12, 1971 AD_**

_We are all heading to the Manor for the holidays. Bella and Andy and Cissa joined us in our compartment, and the Prewett twins did, as well. Frank Longbottom also stopped by to inform me that he and his Mum would be attending. _

_I can't wait to see my family. _

_Father tells me that when he was my age, our family was the biggest in the country. Apparently, they were all killed by Grindelwald, and so Mum and Dad have made up for the loss by recreating the family. There are only two people with Potter blood remaining, but Mum and Dad always invite their friends to celebrate the holidays, as a way of keeping up the tradition started by one of our ancestors. _

_I wonder what it would be like to have such a big family, but I am happy having family that we have chosen. Blood is not the only thing that matters in this world, though many would disagree. _

**_January 1, 1972 AD_**

_Remus was sick again last night. My parents know something I don't. Yesterday was a full moon. Somehow, these things are connected. _

**_February 1, 1972 AD_**

_Werewolves. _

_That must be it. Remus is a werewolf. It makes sense. He's sick every month, and it's always on the full moon. He gets really touchy as it gets closer, and Remus is normally very even-tempered. And he won' t tell us about it; he always just sort of skirts around the topic, like he's embarrassed. _

_I'll talk to Mum and Dad about it. They'll help me figure out what to do, and since they already know, I won't be betraying Remus. _

**_February 11, 1972 AD_**

_Father has written back. He suggests being supportive, and being interested. He's told me to be gentle and respectful of Remus' predicament. He said the best thing I can do is to be there for Remus. _

_Mother sent me a journal she found in the vault about werewolves. She also sent me a book about animagi. I've already read both, and they were really informative. _

_I have a plan for the next full moon. Remus isn't alone anymore. _

**_February 28, 1972 AD_**

_Tonight is the full moon. I am not an animagus, though I hope to become one, so I can't be there with Remus during his shifts. I will, however, sneak into the hospital wing and spend the night with him, once he's brought there. I want to tell him that I know, and I want him to know that I don't care if he's a werewolf because he's my friend. _

**_March 1, 1972 AD_**

_Remus was surprised to see me this morning, and he was even more surprised to see the journal and book that I brought. _

_He looked scared, and so I blurted it out. So now Remy knows that I know he's a were, and he knows that I still want to be friends despite his furry little problem. I told him that he should tell Siri and Pete, and he looked surprised that I hadn't told them already. _

_When they came to visit Remus, he told them why he was sick every month, and they basically said the same thing I did. Remus looked really happy that we would still be his friends, like we should care. Honestly, that boy must have been told that werewolves were horrible for the way he acts about the topic. _

**_October 22, 1972 AD_**

_We've decided to work on becoming animagi this year. I've been looking through the process, and it seems like a pain in the arse. But no matter. We're doing this for Remy. He deserves to know that people care about him. _

_The first step involves holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month. Luckily, we are working with mandrakes in Herbology, so Pete and Siri and I just nicked a few leaves. We all put them in before heading to bed, and used a Sticking Charm to keep it there. Now we just have to ignore the bitter taste and faint obstruction to speech for an entire month. Joy. _

**_October 25, 1972 AD_**

_Pete's leaf fell out today, so he has to start over again. _

_I say fell out, but what really happened is that his Sticking Charm wore off, and he swallowed the leaf during breakfast. He was not happy. It's a good thing we got extra leaves, otherwise Pete would have to sneak into the greenhouses to get a new one. _

_Sirius laughed his head off when Pete swallowed the leaf, and the entire Hall went silent. I don't think Siri has ever laughed so raucously during breakfast before. _

**_October 30, 1972 AD_**

_I nearly swallowed the leaf today. My Sticking Charm wore off, and I didn't notice until I was nearly choking on the damn thing. Sirius had to recast the charm, but at least I don't have to start over again. _

_Peter has been having us reapply the charm every day - he's paranoid that he'll swallow it again and have to start over. _

_Professor McGonagall has been looking at us suspiciously for the past week. I think she suspects that we are preparing some sort of great prank. I hate to disappoint her, but we've been focused on other things. _

**_November 20, 1972 AD_**

_It has been a month since I first put in the mandrake leaf. Today, Sirius and I plan to make the potion for our transformation. When Peter is done, we will make his as well. _

_Tonight, we have to sneak out of the dormitory to spit out the leaves into a vial and add the rest of the ingredients. Thank Merlin that Father gave me his invisibility cloak to use. _

_Tomorrow we will have to wake up at sunrise to say the incantation, and then again at sunset. The waiting is going to be the worst part. _

**_December 1, 1972 AD_**

_There was a lightning storm tonight. It started near the end of Astronomy, and Siri, Pete and I all shared a look before running out of the tower. We made it to the Great Hall with our potions, recited the incantation for the last time, and then drank the potion. _

_It tasted disgusting. _

_We probably should have thought the process through more than we did, because we ended up transforming in the middle of the Great Hall. Fortunately, no one was there to see. _

_Siri is a big black dog that resembles a Grim. He has blue eyes. _

_Pete is a rat with fur the color of his hair, with buck teeth and a hairless tail. _

_I am a white stag with brown eyes and faint gray markings in the shape of my glasses around my eyes. _

_We have finally accomplished our goal. As far as I know, as second years, we are the youngest animagi in history, though we don't plan to register until we are out of Hogwarts. _

_I can't wait to join Remy for full moons. _

**_October 3, 1973_**

_Snape is being an insufferable git. _

_Andy is supposed to be in her sixth year right now, but she's run off with Ted Tonks. Before she left, she told Sirius that she refused to marry Lucius Malfoy. The next day she was gone. Bella and Cissa are distraught, and Sirius is furious. _

_Reggie seems bewildered by this turn of events, and I don't know what to tell him. _

_But Snape somehow heard about it, and he's started telling Siri that Andy ran away and got herself disowned because she couldn't bear to be related to Sirius any longer. Of course, Sirius knows that's not true, because he knows Andy far better than Snape does, but Sirius is used to not being good enough. Walburga is to blame for that. _

_Evans doesn't even try to shut Snape up, and then she acts like we're the ones in the wrong. Well, I'm sorry to say that Snape is the one who antagonizes us. It's not the other way around. He starts our fights, and we finish them. _

_I wish Evans wasn't so blind to her friend's faults. It's only Snape who she lets get away with that kind of stuff. She's friends with Remus, too, and if he so much as scowls in Snape's direction she tells him off. The same goes for her friend Alice Brown. She is overly protective of Snape, and it's getting ridiculous. _

**_January 6, 1975 AD_**

_I have a crush on Evans. It's irrational; she's irritating and nosy, but she's really smart and she's gorgeous, and she's nice to everyone. _

_Well. She's nice to everyone except me. _

_It doesn't matter. _

_Remy, Siri, Pete and I have been working on creating a map of the school. It'll show all the exits and secret passageways, and it'll show people in their animagus form, and it'll show where _

_I do not know if she was willing or not, but I hope she was. I may not like Malfoy, but I would rather Cissa bond with him because she loves him than have her subjected to the same fate as Bella. _

**_April 7, 1978 AD_**

_Pete has been acting twitchy lately, though I don't know why. It might be that our NEWTs are approaching; he always gets nervous about them months in advance. _

_Lily and I had another screaming match last night where she accused me of being an insensitive toe-rag because I refused to let her continue throwing her pity party. I shouted at her, too, saying that she was a self-centered bitch who never pays attention to other people's problems. Then she told me that I didn't know what it was like to lose a parent, and I stopped shouting, and I whispered that I don't know what it's like to lose a parent, let alone two, but that I do know what it's like to lose someone you consider family. _

_And then I kissed her. _

_Yes, I know. I'm an insensitive toe-rag. That was the worst possible time to kiss someone, especially because I didn't ask first. But she kissed me back, and Merlin. _

_Merlin. _

_I apologized for being insensitive, and she apologized for acting so self-centered, and we forgave each other, and then we headed to bed. _

_This morning, I asked her if she would go to Hogsmeade with me, and Lily accepted. I feel like I'm on top of the world. _

**_April 8, 1978 AD_**

_The first half of my date with Lily was fantastic. We spent the entire time talking, something we've never really done before. I talked to her about my parents, about Siri and Remy and Pete, about Reggie and Bella and Cissa and Andy. She told me about her family, about her accidental magic, about being a Muggle-born, about her goals. _

_It was really nice, and we were walking back to the castle - I was asking her if she'd like to go on another date at some point - when something behind us exploded. _

_Death Eaters were Apparating into the village, and one of them had blown out a window in the Three Broomsticks. From there, everything devolved into a flurry of spells and curses being cast. I remember there was a lot of screaming, and then there was a flash of red to my left - where Lily was standing - and then I was standing a little to the left, and my entire world became red-tinged pain. _

_Madam Pomfrey did not approve of my heroics, though she did say she was glad that Lily hadn't been hit by the Cruciatus. _

_Lily spent the night next to me in the Hospital Wing, and Siri and Remy visited me in the morning, with Pete tailing behind them looking mournful. _

_Sirius' eyes were dark and sad; he said there were no casualties, and very few injuries, but that a lot of the shops in Hogsmeade had taken a great deal of damage. This news didn't explain his expression, so I pushed him. _

_Sirius told me that Bella was the one who had cast the Cruciatus that hit me. Something in me shattered, then. _

_Like the Potters, the Blacks are very family oriented. Their motto might be _Toujours Pur _, but family matters more than blood. They may cast out squibs and so called blood-traitors, but they remain in contact with the disowned members of their family, and Blacks would never dream of harming a family member. _

_Before, Bella considered me family; Black blood runs through my veins, and even if it hadn't, Bella was a believer of choosing your own family. She chose me. The fact that she was able to cast the Cruciatus on me means that there is no part of her that considers me family anymore. _

_There is no part of who she used to be; there is nothing left in her to save, if such a thing were possible. _

**_July 6, 1978 AD_**

_I was more impulsive than usual today. _

_I proposed to Lily with my Grandmother's ring. Luckily, she accepted, but I didn't think it through. This is not to say that I regret my actions. Simply put, I wish we weren't on the brink of war. Tensions are high, and relationships are brittle between even the best of friends. _

_No one knows who to trust anymore. We are all living in fear; some days I don't even remember what peace is like. _

_I don't want Lily to think that I'm marrying her because of the war. I'm marrying her because I love her and want to spend my life with her. The war is just a minor inconvenience. _

**_October 2, 1978 AD_**

_Reggie sent Sirius a letter saying that Walburga had forced him to get the Dark Mark. _

_Sirius is mourning the loss of his brother; we have all seen Bella - what if the same happens to Regulus? _

**_November 12, 1978 AD_**

_Lily and I got married today. Sirius was my best man, and Alice was Lily's maid of honor. Lily's sister - Petunia - and her husband attended. Lily wanted a Muggle wedding, while I wanted a traditional bonding. We have compromised; she gets her wedding, and we will bond tomorrow. _

_Lily was radiant, and everyone was on their best behavior - though that doesn't say much for myself and my friends - and we made it through the wedding without any major catastrophes._

_Vernon may have ended up with a curly pink tail, but he was being a pig - a rude one at that - and he was quickly Obliviated, so all is well. _

**_November 13, 1978 AD_**

_Lily and I bonded today. My father was the one to bond us, and Sirius and Alice acted as witnesses. _

**_October 20, 1978 AD_**

_Lils and I have been inducted into the Order of the Phoenix. According to my Father, it was originally made up of three wizards from the Potter family. Given that there are no longer three male Potters, he extended its use to outside of the family. _

_Now, its purpose is to protect the wizarding world from Voldemort. _

**_January 7, 1979 AD_**

_The Order had a confrontation with the Death Eaters today. We got a tip from an anonymous source that there would be an attack at Saint Mungo's. _

_The tip was accurate, and the resulting battle was vicious. Voldemort himself showed up, and Lily, Frank, Alice and I were dueling him. We managed to injure him before he Disapparated. _

**_April 11, 1979 AD_**

_The Death Eaters attacked Diagon. A significant amount of damage was done to several of the shops. _

_Voldemort was present once again. He cornered Sirius, who managed to hold his own for an impressive amount of time before the other wizard disarmed him. Voldemort attempted to get Sirius to join his ranks, and Sirius refused. _

_Voldemort sent a Killing Curse towards Sirius, and Lily deflected the spell with the edge of her wand. While the Dark Lord was distracted by my wife's prowess, I aimed a Cutting Curse at his neck. It hit, but he was immediately Portkeyed away. _

**_June 21, 1979 AD_**

_Regulus has been declared dead. _

_They say that he betrayed Voldemort, who killed him for his treachery. _

_I know that this is true in some form; Reggie never wanted to serve the Dark Lord. But the Death Eaters seem just as surprised as everyone else. Whatever Reggie did or didn't do is unknown to both sides. _

_His secrets go with him to the grave; if Voldemort knows, he isn't sharing. _

_Sirius is devastated; he has lost another family member to this war. _

_Regulus is dead, and we no longer receive information from our informant. One of these is a result of the other. _

**_August 3, 1979 AD_**

_Frank and Alice told me that they had another encounter with Voldemort during patrols. The wizard caught them off guard, but they escaped, thank Merlin. _

**_December 31, 1979 AD_**

_Voldemort attacked Diagon again. He killed several Pure-bloods, and more Muggle-borns, before the Order showed up. Somehow, Lily and I ended up dueling the wizard with Frank and Alice backing us up. We nearly injured him again, but then he conjured a slab of marble that our spells hit. By the time the dust cleared, he was gone. _

**_February 17, 1980 AD_**

_Dumbledore informed us that there was a Prophecy spoken the other night about a child that would be born to defeat Voldemort. _

_He says that the prophecy was overheard. He says that Voldemort likely knows part of it now. _

_Lily and Alice are both pregnant, and both are due to give birth in late July - the date specified by the prophecy. _

_It is terrible of me to think this, but I hope that Alice's baby is the child of the prophecy. _

**_July 31, 1980 AD_**

_Alice gave birth to a son yesterday. Lily has been named Godmother. _

_Lily gave birth to a daughter today. Alice is Godmother and Sirius Godfather. These bonds ensure that Haven will be protected as well as possible. _

_My daughter is the child of the prophecy._

**_August 18, 1980 AD_**

_Dumbledore told me today that my parents had died. It was a noble death, he said. They died fighting Voldemort. _

_I know that he is trying to console me, but it doesn't change the fact that my parents are still dead. We are now the future of this family, and we are trapped by a prophecy. _

**_September 3, 1980 AD_**

_Lily and I have become hypervigilant. Lily has been going through any books she can find, looking for ways to protect Haven. _

_Sirius has offered some tomes from his family library. They deal with darker magic, but I am willing to do anything to protect my daughter._

**_November 30, 1980 AD_**

_I stand corrected. I will not meddle with soul magic. I have shown Dumbledore the few passages I found on the topic, and he returned to Hogwarts with a pensive expression marring his face. _

_Blood Magic is fair game. _

**_January 5, 1981 AD_**

_Lily and I have moved to the Lionsmouth cottage in Godric's Hollow. We have decided to make use of the Fidelius Charm that is already in place. We assigned Sirius to be Secret Keeper as a ruse. Everyone will know soon enough that we are using the charm, and they will assume that Siri is the Secret Keeper. _

_Due to Sirius' encouragement on the matter, we plan to switch to Peter in a few months, once rumors have spread sufficiently. _

**_July 31, 1981 AD_**

_Haven is one year old today. Sirius bought her a toy broom that she flew around the house on. She succeeded in tripping me a fair few times. Lily laughed every time, asking how I could be so graceful in the air when I can't avoid flying projectiles when I am on solid ground. _

**_August 12, 1981 AD_**

_We switched Secret Keepers today; Peter is now the Keeper, while Sirius is a decoy. _

_Haven is as well protected as she's going to get. At this point there is nothing more we can do to ensure her survival. _

_I haven't seen Remus in months. I hope he is well and that his dealings with the werewolves are going well. _

**_October 30, 1981 AD_**

_Voldemort has been unusually silent for the past few months. It is like the calm before the storm. I wonder what he is planning. _

_I am tired of being cooped up in this house. I love Lily and Haven, I do. But sometimes I wish I could go out and be free. _

_I hope that this war will be over soon. _

_Tomorrow is Samhain. I hope to see my parents' ghosts. Perhaps Lily will see hers - she hasn't so far, but it is harder to summon Muggle spirits than magical ones. _


	13. The Daily Prophet

**November 1, 1981 AD**

A tragedy intertwines itself with victory.

Last night, You-Know-Who attacked the Potter family.

It seems that their Secret Keeper, as well as Haven Potter's Godfather, betrayed the Potters. You-Know-Who killed the Potters. This means that he entered the Potters' home, which - as we all know - was under the Fidelius Charm. Sirius Black - their Secret Keeper - must have switched sides in secret. He informed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named of the Potters' whereabouts, and the dark wizard attacked them.

James Potter was found dead near the doorway.

Lily Potter was found dead in front of baby Haven's crib.

And Haven Potter?

Look closely, my readers; Haven Potter lives! She has made it out of the encounter with only a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. She has vanquished the Dark Lord!

According to Albus Dumbledore - Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards - You-Know-Who cast the Killing Curse, and Haven Potter survived. Somehow, she reflected the Killing Curse back at the one who had cast it, vanquishing him.

When Dumbledore arrived on the scene, all that remained of the dark wizard who has been terrorizing our world for nearly a decade was a pile of dusty robes.

Haven Potter has saved us from a reign of terror. There will be celebrations in honor of the Girl-Who-Lived.

* * *

**November 3, 1981 AD**

Sirius Black - the man who betrayed the Potters - has been captured at last.

When he was found by the Aurors, they witnessed a truly horrifying scene. Peter Pettigrew - a good friend of the Potters - was confronting Black, exclaiming that he had betrayed them. Then, the two old friends began a vicious duel on a Muggle street.

The duel was ended with an Exploding Charm that killed thirteen Muggles. Pettigrew, who was closest to the Charm, was killed in the blast, with only a finger to show that he ever existed.

When Black was taken in, he was said to have been blaming himself for the Potters' deaths. Taking this as a confession, Bartemius Crouch Sr. sentenced the mad wizard to Azkaban for the rest of his life.

* * *

**November 5, 1981 AD**

Last night, the Longbottoms were attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange - formerly Black - Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, and Bartemius Crouch Jr.

They claim to have been extracting information on You-Know-Who's disappearance from the Longbottoms. In the process, Frank and Alice Longbottom were exposed to the Cruciatus Curse for an extended period of time.

This exposure seems to have reduced the Longbottoms to a catatonic state, in which they do not recognize anything from the outside world.

Thankfully, their son was not exposed to the curse. He was found in a closet; it appears that either Frank or Alice hid him before they were overtaken.

They now reside in a long-term ward of Saint Mungo's, while Neville Longbottom has been taken in by his grandmother - Augusta Longbottom.

* * *

**November 7, 1981 AD**

After much deliberation, this reporter would like to draw your attention to a couple of very important questions: What has happened to our hero? Where has Haven Potter gone?

Dumbledore has refused to share any information on the young hero's whereabouts, citing the fact that there are still Death Eaters running free. He claims that he does not wish to risk the last Potter's life by sharing her location prematurely, when there may still be a risk to her life.

This reporter concedes Dumbledore's point. After all, our Aurors are working overtime to bring in suspected Death Eaters, and the Wizengamot has met to set up a court where the suspected Death Eaters may be tried for their crimes.

Rumors have been circulating that the first trial will determine the guilt - or innocence - of the Lestranges and Crouch Jr. They will be closely followed by Lucius Malfoy.

Cyrus Greengrass and Augusta Longbottom have been overheard saying that without the Potter family, several seats on the Wizengamot will be empty for the upcoming process.

Will our world survive the damage done? Will the loss of the Potter family result in breakdown until Haven can appoint someone to take her seats in the House of Lords? What does the future hold?


End file.
